Shadows of Remnant
by Masseffect-TxS
Summary: "You are banished from death cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark, a curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be saved…for you have been chosen to save it from the ambition of a mad woman and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"
1. Chapter I: Banished From Death

RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark, a curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be saved…for you have been chose to save it from the ambition of a mad woman and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

* * *

Chapter I: Banished From Death

* * *

"GASP!" a rush of cold air ran straight throughout Jaune's body as his eyes snapped open, only to stare up into the midnight sky. A million shining lights blinking down upon him like an array of sparkling lights. The moon cast an eerie glow of blue and white light across the forest floor. Confused and disoriented, he tried to stand on his own two feet before he fell and stumbled to the ground.

"Pyrrha? Ren? Nora?!" He called out as he managed to regain his footing.

He grunted as he grabbed a hold of his ribs, feeling as if he had been thrown under a bus and ached like it. When he finally could, he looked down to notice that the entire right sleeve of his arm and parts of his armour had been ripped off. Leaving him with only a chest plate, his black hoodie, pants, shoes and the belts that crossed his pants.

As he began to look up, he noticed something odd as the world around him seemed to flicker and wave like flames. Distorting and obscuring the images of the red leaves in the Forever Fall Forest. It was both beautiful and strange as well frightening him.

"What the heck?"

He began to look around the strange distorted world moving forward, before his foot kicked something on the ground that made him look down. Down by his feet was his sword Crocea. The blade was stained red with crimson blood, as he bent down to pick up the ancient blade and looked at his reflection. Instantly he began to remember as the world shifted and changed.

* * *

He now stood in a small clearing while carrying a box full of Rapier Wasps. He instantly remembered this moment, as it was early today when Cardin blackmailed and made him avoid his friends to play a prank on them. He looked over to see Cardin as he shoved a jar of red tree sap into his hands and pointed to the left.

"Throw it at her"

Cardin demanded as Jaune turned his head to see not far from him a girl with long red hair and emerald green eyes, as she collected more sap and placed it into another jar. He recognised her instantly as Pyrrha Nikos, his partner and the only other person who knew his secret. His hands shook as he gazed back and forth between her and the jar of sap in his hand.

"No...No!"

In a brave moment of defiance, he turned around and threw the jar straight at Cardin, as the red sap stained the man's clothes. Cardin then proceeded to beat the living day lights out of Jaune, who could barely handle the abuse he was dished out. But before Cardin could deliver another blow to the boy, Jaune's body exploded in a flash of white light.

The force knocked away the taller boy and caused Cardin to tumble to the ground in shock. Looking between the taller fallen boy and himself, Jaune was surprised as watched his hands glow pure white before slowly fading away.

Cardin looked furious as he stood back up and prepared to beat up the boy again. But before he could get any where neat him, the sound of a roar broke him from his anger as the group turned around to see a large Major Ursa growling and glaring at the boys. The beast stared especially at Cardin as his clothes were saturated with red sap.

The beast roared at the group of boys causing Sky, Dove and Lark to flee the scene leaving their leader and Jaune behind to face the beast.

* * *

The memory faded as Jaune found himself once again in the strange distorted realm, shaking his head he looked around hoping to find more answers. His gaze was soon cast upon a headless Ursa Major corpse, not to far away as its severed he'd and red pupils gazed vacantly right back at him.

The corpse slowly dissipated into nothing but fine black dust, as the world shifted again. This time he now stood before the terrifying beast as he shielded Cardin from the monster.

* * *

Jaune blocked a claw strike and attempted to strike at the creature's soft underbelly before it batted him away with ease causing him to cough as specks of blood landed on the grass. He looked up to see that the creature had grown bored of him, and had now turned its attention back to the fallen boy Cardin.

Jaune cursed as he saw the creature lose interest and turned back to Cardin, as the teen shrieked in fear. Afraid for the boy, he desperately tried to come up with a plan to save Cardin, as his eyes searched for anything that could help him save Cardin.

A glint caught his eye as he looked to his left to see the jars full of the red sap as a plan quickly came into his mind. Jaune quickly picked up one of the jars and smashed it against himself as the red sap stained his clothes. The beast instantly stopped it's advance and turned its attention on the blond haired knight.

"Hey ugly! Over here! I'm delicious!" he yelled as he smacked his sword against his shield making a large amount of noise. The beast roared as it bounded towards him. A brief moment of fear struck Jaune before he stamped it out an turned to the forest.

"Cardin run! I'll try lead it away! You just go get help!" Jaune yelled as he ran away from the beast as it followed him deeper into the forest leaving behind a shell shocked and confused Cardin as he watched the boy disappear.

Jaune jumped and bounded over multiple fallen trees and stumps as he attempted to out run the beast. his heart beating rapidly in his chest, and breath becoming gasp and heaves as he tired to out run the beast that pursued him.

"This is by far the worst plan I have ever come up with!" Jaune said as he looked behind him to see the beast still following him from a distance. But when he turned his head back to the front of him, he instantly slammed on the brakes as he came to the edge of a large cliff. Small bits of pebbles fell of the cliff into the deep abyss below, as he turned around to see the Ursa Major appear behind him and charge at him.

Seeing no other choice Jaune stood his ground as he raised his shield and prepared for the worst just as the beast lunged at the boy. He managed to block a strike from its claws before he swiped at the beast's hand, causing a deep cut to appear on the beasts paw.

The beast hollered in pain as it growled louder at the boy before swatted at the boy, knocking the shield from his hand and caused the heirloom shield to fall over the cliff.

Jaune cursed slightly as the beast swiped at him again, this time knocking him onto his back. Dazed and slightly confused he looked up in time as the beast raised its claw and plunged it towards the boy. Jaune reacted instantly as he brought up his left hand to block the incoming attack, the claws of the beast plunged itself deep into his hand.

"ARGH!" Jaune screamed as the bony appendage dug deeper into his hand, blood gushing from the wound as the beast tried to wrench its claw free from the boys grip. But proved difficult as he held his grip on the large bear, Jaune took the opportunity as he plunged his blade into the monsters neck. The beast roared in agony before Jaune sliced the head clean from its shoulders, its head falling down into the cliff below .

The great bears body rocked before it leaned and fell of the cliff, dragging the boy with it by his still impaled hand. Jaune screamed as they were both thrown over the cliff and plummeted towards the bottom. Time slowed to a crawl as he desperately reached out to grab the ledge of the cliff, in a vain attempt to save his life.

But as if fate was mocking him he missed as he managed to grab but a few strands of grass from the cliff, as he drew further and further away. He felt weightless as he fell into the abyss, the world around him seemed to move to a crawl as he saw the final moments of his life flashed before his eyes.

**THUD! CRACK!**

He slammed mercilessly into the ground and nearly blacked out from the pain. He coughed as a small splash of blood gushed from his lips and trailed down his chin. To him this was unbearable as he felt nearly all of his bones cracked and broken as his organs and body screaming to him as if they were on fire. It was hell, pure and utter hell for the boy.

As he lay there bleeding and struggling for breath he began to think back on his life and how much he had screwed up. He began to think of how sad his family and friends will be once they find out he is dead. And he thought about how much of a jerk he was to Pyrrha when she offered her help and he bluntly refused her.

He only hoped she would forgive him before his eye's grew heavy, as they slowly closed and the world was blanketed in black…

Suddenly images of a woman glowing a beautiful white light appeared before him, clad in a flowing white dress surrounded by blue flames like a burning eye. She moved towards his broken body and placed his head on her lap, cupping his cheek in her hand and smiled warmly before whispering something that he could not understand.

Then a man appeared next to him clad in armour and glowed a dark blue light from his corporeal form. He seemed to be standing above him talking to the woman in white, the man only nodded before he placed his hand on Jaune's chest. A terrible pain circulated in his chest as Jaune then screamed in agony as his body glowed brighter and brighter before the memory faded.

* * *

Jaune looked back down at the severed head as he realised what had happened and asked the daunting question that plagued his mind.

"Am I dead?"

**"No…But you are banished from death"** Jaune spun around in shock as he tried to find the voice, but all he saw was a flash of blue flames as it disappeared.

"Who is there? Who are you?" he asked as he searched for the voice his sword swinging around trying to find the voice.

**"I am like you young man, lost and confused..." **a figure began to appear before him as he stared at the boy.

The figure before him was that of a man, glowing white and blue while clad in armor but glowed like a white light. He had long black hair with two wolf like ears at the top of his head and a head band across his forehead. On his back was a quiver with a multitude of arrows and a small assortment of daggers on his chests.

His figure was tall and imposing as he stood a few inches above the boy in height, his posture suggested that he was regal and disciplined with a near permanent scowl across his face. What had scared Jaune the most was the fact the mans face looked partially old and rotten like corpse, he had a deep scowl on his face as he glared slightly at the boy.

"What's happened to me?" he asked as the spirit walked up to him.

"**To put it simply...you died, you fell to your death and died along side the beast you see before you" **Jaune looked down at his hands and felt his body, his hearts still beating in his chest and the cold air leaving his lungs.

"Then how am I still alive?" he asked as the spirit looked to him gravely before taking a deep breath and began to tell him the horrifying truth.

**"You have been banished from death, and have now been cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark. A curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time."** Jaune's eyes widened at this, he looked down to see his hands shift between his own white Aura and the mans Light Blue Aura. A great sense of fear and dread washed over the boy as he cast his gaze to spectral spirit.

**"But we can be saved,**** you have been chosen to save Remnant from the ambitions of a mad woman. And only by stopping her can we be free of our curse..." **he said as Jaune turned around to face the spirit.

"Chosen...What do you mean 'Chosen'…chosen by who?" He asked as the spirit could only shake its head.

**"I cannot say for sure, but who ever it is has bound our spirits together and brought you back from the brink of death. And I believe ****'****that****'**** may hold some of the answers that we seek" **he said as he then pointed to the left of him as Jaune turned his head to the left and jumped back in shock.

Before him was a skeleton, old and decayed, wearing armor similar to the spirit but aged and deteriorated. He held in his hands what looked like a half snapped sword with a jagged end and a strange symbol on the hilt of the blade.

The strangest thing about the skeleton was the fact that impaled into its chest was a glass dagger, buried deep into its heart. Jaune moved with caution he got closer to the body as he then grabbed hold of the glass blade and took it from the corpses chest.

Instantly his hand and the blade began to glow as Jaune screamed in pain as strange images began to flood his mind.

* * *

_Images of fire and death appeared in his mind as the same glass blade that was impaled in the skeleton was held by a stranger unseen as the blade came down on to him as images of fiery eyes were all he could see before it faded away._

* * *

Jaune gasped as he let go of the blade as it clattered onto the floor, he struggled to regain his footing as he looked at the glass blade at his feet. "You're...that skeleton was..." He said as the spirit nodded his head.

**"Now do you believe me child?"** Jaune shook his head as the vision still lingered within his memory, the pain he felt when the blade pierced his chest still ached.

"Who did this to you?"

**"I do not know, all I remember is betrayal and fire...and that's all. My ****thirst ****for ****vengeance is the reason ****why I cannot move to the other side, ****but I feel there is something else that keeps us to this plane of existence."** Jaune looked up to the sky to see the night sky and the glowing stars. Jaune sighed as he heard this and rubbed his head in frustration.

"Something else he says great...just my luck..." he then remembered his team and the rest of the class, wondering why they hadn't found him yet. He reached for his belt as he pulled out his scroll and attempted to call his team, but soon found that his scroll was broken completely shattered.

"Damn it my scrolls broken...we need to get back to Beacon, the headmaster might know what's happening to me." He began to walk away before the spirit grabbed hold of his shoulder.

**"And what could he do to help us? As far as I know there has never been anything like us before in all of Remnant. As such he would not be inclined to believe us. And how pray tell would he be able to believe us? I cannot be seen by mortal eyes, so proving my existence would be hard enough as it is. We need to think about this more carefully, otherwise we will be...detained for madness"** Jaune shook him off his arm, he then sighed as he thought about what the spirit said, and unfortunately could see the truth in his words

_'He's right how can Ozpin help me? I don't even understand myself what going on, and if I told anyone they would probably throw me in the looney bin just for talking to myself...'_Jaune thought to himself as he tried to figure out the best course of action.

**"You do know I can read your thoughts?"** The spirit said as Jaune snapped his head toward the spirit in surprise. **"We both share one body now, your thoughts are as open to me like a book on a shelf"** he said as Jaune nodded at this although still slightly annoyed that his own thought were no longer private to himself.

"Well at least it will make it easier for us to talk this way then" he said as he walked over to the Ursa corpse and grabbed the sheath beside body. He picked up the sheath as he inspected the old heirloom and pressed the button hoping for the sheath to transform into its shield form, but remained as a sheath.

"Damn looks like the mechanism is busted, probably from when it was thrown off the cliff," Jaune said as he looked up at the cliff that he fell from. Seeing no alternative Jaune sheathed the blade as he attempted to place the blade back on his waist, only to discover that the clip to hold the blade was broke as well.

"Great survives for over a hundred years and I manage to not only break the shield but break the waist clip for it...I have the worst luck" Jaune said as held the sheathed blade in his hand. The spirit reappears beside him as he looked at the blade in his hands.

_**"That sword..."**_ he tried to remember where he saw that particular sword before. He shook his head as he saw the somewhat distressed looking the boys face as he looked at the broken shield/sheath, he sighed before he grabbed the boys attention.

**"Stop your bellowing and just use the harness from ****my**** corpse over there"**Jaune stopped his breakdown to see the corpses harness that allowed for a blade to be held across its back, along with a spare blade that was missing. Jaune looked back at the spirit as he was concerned about the thought of desecrating the body.

"Are you sure? I mean isn't this technically grave robbing?" He asked as the spirit just shook his head in annoyance.

**"I'm dead so I won't be needing it anytime soon. And you have my permission, so there shouldn't be any problem."** Jaune nodded before he walked over and removed the harness from its chest.

He the placed the harness over his chest as he locked the latches in place and secured the sword and sheath onto his back. The blad handle now appearing out of his right shoulder, as he checked the straps and adjusted the blade slightly until it was comfortably for himself. He then looked down at the half snapped blade as he picked it up.

"What about this?" He asked as he showed the spirit the blade. The spirit stared at the blade before he nodded at the boy.

**"Take it...I can't explain why but...I feel as thought that blade is...important to me" **he said with a look of longing in his eyes. Jaune nodded before the spirit disappeared as he placed the broken blade in the spare sheath on his back, he then looked up as he stared at the cliff.

"Well we better get moving, everyone must be worried by now" he said as he began to climb up the side of the cliff, he grabbed hold of the rocky surface as he began to climb up the cliff and after already a minute of climbing he began to speak to the spirit.

"So do you have a name?" He asked the spirit as he continued to climb the rocky surface, the spirit was quite as it registered the boys request.

**"I…I do not know…it is as thought there is something blocking my memories, I cannot even remember how I ended up in this place." **Jaune was silent as he continues to climb the cliff face.

"Well I can't just keep calling you spirit every time we have to talk, and I think it would be nice to call you by a name instead of it" he said as the spirit was perplexed by this.

**"You strike me as curious Jaune Arc…most humans I have seen as a spirit usually don't care about a Faunus like myself, what's more you didn't freak out immediately the moment we met?" **he said generally surprised by the boys lack of hatred. Jaune just smiled to himself as he continued to climb.

"Well I really don't care that much if you're a Faunus, because believe it or not my family had a belief 'It does not matter if you be Man or Faunus everyone is equal on this earth' and we have kept that motto up for the past 1000 years...or so" he said just as his foot slipped a little and he dangled off the cliff for a brief moment before he regained his grip.

"Also at the time I thought I had died so seeing a spirit would not be uncommon if I were dead." He jumped from one part of the cliff to the next. The spirit was silent as he heard the boys words, he did not know why but he felt as if he had heard these words before from a long time ago, he then chuckled slightly as the boy finally made it to the top.

"**You are one strange human Jaune Arc…I am glad there are humans like you in this world in the mean time call me…Inu" **he said as Jaune smiled at this.

"Its nice to meet you Inu" he said as he turned around and looked back in the direction he came, but found that he had ran so far that he got lost in the forest.

"…Damn it I'm lost" Jaune said as his shoulders slumped and a cloud of depression hung over his head, Inu appeared beside him as he shook his head at the boy.

**"We need not worry, we simply follow your tracks" **he said as he disappeared and Jaune looked down at the ground as foot prints glowing in the dirt appeared on the ground before him. Leading from the forest towards the cliff, this meant that he had to go in the opposite direction of the tracks.

Jaune sighed as he began to run into the forest following the bright blue tracks on the ground, but as he ran through the forest he noticed that he was moving faster then he had ever moved before. Almost at an unnatural speed, but slower compared to Ruby. Jaune laughed as he jumped over a fallen tree and zipped past the forest shrubbery with ease.

"This is amazing! How am I doing this!" he asked as he whooped in glee and fun, in his mind Inu smirked as he felt the boys adrenaline pumping through his veins.

**"It seems that death has granted us the powers of a Wraith"** he said as Jaune was confused at this.

"Wraith? What's a Wraith?" he asked as he jumped over rocks and leaped across a stream, Inu pondered as he began to recall what little he knew of the legends.

**"I believe it is what I am…In legends it is an undying spirit bound to this earth with unfinished business most likely vengeance"** he spoke as Jaune grew serious at this, if what Inu said was true then as a vessel he would have to fight in Inu's stead as a weapon.

"What do you have to be vengeful about?" he asked as he felt the man's scowl deepen within his mind.

**"Betrayal is one…" **he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes at this.

"**LOOK OUT BOY!" **Inu yelled as Jaune was snapped out of his thoughts as a Beowulf lunged at him, he barely dodged out of the way to realise that he just ran straight into a Beowulf pack and was now completely surrounded by the beasts.

"Shit there's too many!" Jaune said as he drew Corcea from its sheath on his back and pointed the blade towards the hoard. He felt their eyes on him as they circled the lone hunter growling and snarling as if to intimidate the boy, Jaune began to sweat as the beast drew closer to him until Inu appeared beside him.

**"Stay calm boy, these are low level Grimm. Mindless pups that are all brawn and no brain. If you listen to me I can get you out alive, but you have to trust me" **he said as the beasts drew closer. Jaune nodded as he pointed his sword towards the Grimm.

"Ok…not like I have a choice at the moment" he said as the beast were now within striking distance.

Silence echoed as Jaune stood prepared to fight the hoard of Beowulf minors with nothing but the sword in his hand, a broken blade and an undying spirit bound to his soul that kept him from dying. Let see how it turns out.

The first beast struck as it lunged at Jaune with the intent to bite the boys' head off his shoulders, **"DUCK!"** Inu yelled as Jaune ducked under the attack and then dodged another's claws

**"STRIKE AT THE NECK NOW!"** Inu yelled as Jaune thrust his blade into the creatures neck, the blade striking deep into the jugular of the beast as it crocked and hollered in pain. Jaune withdrew his blade and sliced the beasts head from its body. Two more charged in from behind Jaune as they attempted to catch the boy by surprise.

**"Look out!"** Inu yelled as Jaune spun around and blocked one with his sword but was left wide open for the other.

But before its claws could even get close Inu manifested beside Jaune as an ethereal sword appeared in its hands blocking the second strike before it batted the creature away, this allowed Jaune to kick the beast in the stomach dazing the creature slightly before it was silenced by Jaune slicing its head clean from its body.

Another charged in and attacked the boy, as he barley was able to parry the monsters claws with his sword **"Thrust your left hand forward!"** Inu yelled as Jaune complied and thrust it forward releasing a small flash of light from his left hand that caused the creature to stumble and back away before it glowed and flashed with a blue light.

"**Attack now!"** Inu commanded as Jaune ran forward and sliced the beast across the chest, before Jaune knew it Inu's top half manifested from him and slashed the creature in the opposite direction.

**"Keep attacking!"** he ordered as Jaune nodded quickly before he slashed again at the beast followed once again by Inu in the opposite direction.

Together the two slashed again and again as more cuts began to appear on the creatures chest, finally after two more cuts Jaune stabbed his sword through the monsters neck and then slashed at its midsection bisecting the monster in half.

He then turned around to see the last four looked at him in what Jaune could only describe as terror. But at the moment he didn't care as he readied the blade again and this time charged at the four, he thrust his hand forward as the beast was paralysed and proceeded to hack at the creatures torso, before he swept the creature off its feet and sliced it head off mid fall.

He then blocked one claw strike as Inu blocked the other before Jaune slashed the creatures stomach open, and stabbing the blade between its neck and its shoulder piercing the heart from above.

Jaune was then knocked back as the creature that Inu blocked swatted at him with his claws and went in for the kill, but Jaune deflected the attack and stabbed the creature in the stomach as he finished him off by bisecting his head form his shoulders. The last creature trembled in fear as it looked at the young hunter in fear as the ghostly silhouette of Inu could be seen beside the boy, and with that it high tailed it out of the intent on gathering its pack members.

"**Jaune kill it before it can get help!"** Inu said as he saw the creature attempt to flee.

"How? I don't have a ranged weapon!" Jaune said as he cursed his luck for being the only member in his team for not having a gun.

**"Use this!"** he said as Jaune felt a strange surging in his left hand as the blue flames circulated and morphed until a transparent bow appeared in his hands along with a quiver of arrows on his back, the boy nodded before he grabbed an transparent arrow from the quiver and aimed at the retreating beast.

"**Keep calm and pull back gently"** the ghost said as the world around Jaune slowed down and the world was once again blanketed in black and blue flames.

**"Keep your aim true and I shall guide you"** he said as the creature glowed red as he pulled the arrow back.

"**And Release!" **Jaune let the arrow go as it flew through the air and sailed across the field before hitting dead centre into the back of the creatures skull.

The beast fell face first to the ground dead, the arrow soon disappeared as it fade from existence leaving behind a disintegrating corpse. The bow soon disappeared from his hands as he looked down at the small scar on his left hand that glowed blue, Inu appeared beside him as he looked at the shot.

**"Impressive...You are rather gifted with a bow young Arc"** he said as Jaune continued to look at his hand.

"My Grandfather used to take me out hunting when I was a kid. He taught me how to use a bow and arrow…that was the only time anyone ever actually trained me." he looked down at the ground the thoughts of Pyrrha entering his mind as she offered her training, one that he denied. A roar was heard far away as Inu looked around.

**"It is not safe here at night, even for us, we have to leave now before more return" **he said as he retreated back inside Jaune who nodded as he began to make his way back to Beacon. Throughout the night he encountered many more Grimm ranging from Beowulf's to Ursa's as the undying spirit guided him through the dark forest, the crimson leaves that fell were now covered in blood as Jaune continued to make his way home.

Hopefully his team wasn't too angry with him.

* * *

**Beacon Academy Morning, Cafeteria**

* * *

Pyrrha stared blankly at the stack of pancakes before her, as she felt not the urge or motive to eat the delicious pastries. Around the table many were just like her, as they too could not find the strength to eat.

Yesterday Cardin and his team came running back to the rest of the group, saying that an Ursa Major appeared and Jaune was holding it off as best he could. As soon as they had heard this they rushed in the same direction they came in hopes of saving their friend. But when they got there Jaune and the Ursa were gone and all that remained was a piece of cloth and some of Jaune's blood.

Pyrrha had screamed instantly when she saw this and attempted to go and hunt the beast down, had Glynda not restrained her with her magic. Glynda then had Professor Port and Oobleck search the forest for the boy, but could find nothing but tracks leading only deeper into the forest. By then it had gotten too dark for the search team to search safely, without encountering Grimm.

They called off the search and retreated back to the Academy, in order to continue their search the next day. As soon as CRDL got back they were instantly reprimed by a rather rare display of anger from Headmaster Ozpin. He out right reprimed them for their reckless behaviour and threatened them with expulsion, if Jaune was not found by the next day.

Ozpin rather hoped that the young man was found soon, he had known all along of the boys fake transcripts and still enrolled him into his school because he wanted to see if he had the same potential that his ancestors before him possessed. The ability to defy all odds before them and and achieve what many deemed impossible...even at the cost of their own lives.

"It seems he did inherit their ability to put others before themselves…a noble but stupid trait" he said as he and Glynda stood in the cafeteria watching over the students.

"How are they taking it?" Glynda asked as she looked at teams RWBY and JNPR whose very presence reeked with depression and remorse, Ozpin sighed as he shook his head.

"About as well as one would take to losing a friend to Grimm…especially one that was left behind" he said as he looked over to the sad team members.

Ruby had small tears in her eyes as she held her legs to her chest as she released small quiet sobs that were unheard by everyone except those nearest to her.

Yang had a furious look on her face as her knuckles were near white as she too held in the emotion that she was feeling. Anger, Rage and guilt for not acting in time to save the boy.

Blake had a small look of remorse on her face as she tried her best to not seem affected by the event, but if you look close enough you could still see the hints of sadness in her eyes.

Weiss was living up to her namesake as she held on an icy appearance and cold behaviour to mask the fact that she too felt sadness of the young mans 'passing', inwardly regretting being overly cold to the blond haired teen as small cracks could be seen along her cold exterior.

Ren held a stoic face but in his eyes could be seen small amounts of anger and sadness as he felt ashamed for allowing his team leader and friend to die while cowards lived in his stead, it burned him up on the inside.

Nora the ever bright and bubbly girl that brought both a sense of laughter and confusion to the team seemed almost lifeless as she only just stared at the pancakes not even attempting to take a bite of her favourite meal, she just couldn't find the strength.

And Pyrrha, well what could be said, not long ago she was his partner. And even though he said mean things to her, he was still her partner and her friend. To her, the inability to protect her partner felt as though she had failed not only herself, but him as well. She had vowed to never have another partner again, if he did not return.

A shadow passed over her as she and everyone else turned their heads slowly to look behind her, her blank look instantly changed into rage as she saw who was behind her, the man responsible for getting her partner killed while just cowered like a child, the person who should have died that day instead of him.

Cardin Winchester

The boy before looked different then his usual demeanour. He no longer held himself high and proud with the arrogance that came with his family name, Instead he seemed to be holding a heavy burden of guilt and failure. The look in his eyes spoke volumes of his failure and his guilt. When Jaune had sacrificed himself to draw the Ursa away from him, all he could do was stare wide eyed and stunned as he watched the boy he had bullied for the past semester save his life. Even when his so called 'friends' abandoned him to the Grimm.

To a proud Winchester like himself it was a major blow to his family name, one that he would carry for the rest of life least he be forgiven. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes as she glared at the boy.

"What do you want?" she said with a vast amount of venom in her voice as the boy stiffened under gaze. Cardin stiffened as he gazed back at her once green green eyes that shone like emerald gems, now seemed toxic green and full of hate, mainly for him. He sighed as he struggled to find the words to say.

"I…I just wanted to say…I'm…I'm sorry for what happened to Jaune" he said with no small amount of regret, the others looked at him for a moment as he continued to speak.

"Jaune…sacrificed his life to save mine, he stayed behind when my friends ran away and after all the mean things I did to him. Even after I blackmailed him int-" he couldn't finish his sentence as Pyrrha had enough and struck him across the face, causing him to crash into the floor.

The cafeteria was shocked as they watched the normally calm and patient girl lose her temper at Cardin. Ruby, Yang, Nora, Weiss, Blake and Ren had shocked looks as they saw the rage that swirled around her as small bits of metal began to silently creak. Glynda was about to go over and stop this, until Ozpin rose his hand signalling for her to stop.

"This needs to happen…for all of them" Glynda only nodded and stepped back to watch the scene before her. Pyrrha was breathing heavily as she glared down at the boy before her, her hair shadowed her eyes as her from shook in anger and rage. A closer look would reveal that her eyes were brimming with tears, waiting to gush forth at a moments notice.

"How dare you!" she said softly but full of hate that caused most in the area to flinch back in shock.

"How dare you even attempt to apologize for what you did!" she said as her teeth clenched in anger, she then raised her head as she glared at the boy. "Did you think a few words would clear you of your crime! Erase the pain you have caused us!" she yelled this time as Cardin backed away slowly on the ground until she grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to face her.

"Because of your bullshit! Jaune is dead! He died trying to save your Pathetic! Minuscule! Life! When he could have just run away and left you to die!" tears began to fall from her eyes as she yelled at the scared boy. "But he didn't! He didn't run away because that's not the type man he was!" she yelled as her voice began to crack.

"He was a good man! Who didn't deserve to die by those heartless monsters! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!" She yelled as she basically threw the boy across the hall as he crashed into a table causing the other students to scatter.

Cardin looked up in fear as the red haired amazon drew closer to him with rage and fire burning in her eyes. But he didn't move or even attempt away, to him this was punishment for his deeds, punishment for the horrible things he has done to not only Jaune but to everyone he ever came into contact with, Faunus included. But just as she grabbed him by the collar and was about to knock his teeth from his skull. The sounds of the cafeteria doors opening causing everyone, minus Pyrrha and Cardin, to look in its direction and then gasp in shock.

The gasp of shock was enough for Pyrrha to stop her rampage and turn around as she faced the doorway, and what she saw caused her whole world to be turned upside down.

Standing before them all was Jaune Arc. His shirt and chest plate were covered in blood, with his right sleeve completely destroyed and his sword with another secured on his back with an old leather harness. He had cuts and bruises all along his body, with a thin cut across his cheek as dried up blood streaked down his face and a black eye forming under his eye.

The room was silent as Jaune slowly walked through the cafeteria, ignoring the looks of surprise and shock as he passed by his team and RWBY. He continued past the teachers who looked at the boy in shock, Ozpin looked more intrigued then the others, before he made his way to a vending machine and fished around his pockets for a spare coin.

After a while he sighed as he turned to the group as he scratched the back of his head.

"Um…does anyone have any change?" he said with a nervous grin on his face. And just liked that the awkward silence was broken as Ruby and Pyrrha bolted towards the boy.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha and Ruby yelled out as they soon tackled the boy in a massive bear hug. That caused the three to collapse to the floor, but caused Jaune's head to smack against the machine.

"OW MY HEAD!" Jaune said as he attempted to cradle his head while being hugged by the two girls around his chest.

"Y-You're alive! I thought you were dead!" Ruby said with a few small tears in her eyes as she held herself closer to the boy.

"I-I can't believe you're all right!" Pyrrha said as her gripped tightened the small sounds of bones aching began to sound within Jaune. Jaune struggled as he felt their grip tighten on his form.

"I-was-until-you-crashed-into me!" Jaune said in between gasps as the girls continued to hug the boy, afraid that he was going to disappear again. The whole crowd was amazed as they watched the boy being hugged to death by the two red heads. Snapping out of their shock, JNPR and RWBY made their way over as they tried to pry the two girls off of him.

"RUBY YOU DUNCE! LET HIM GO!" Weiss said as she, Yang and Blake tried to pull the girl off of him.

"NO! I WON'T LET GO!" she yelled like a child being denied their favourite toy, the same thing was happening to Pyrrha as Ren and Nora tried to pull her off as well.

"Pyrrha please let him go!" Ren asked calmly as Pyrrha shook her head as she denied their request while gripping the boy tighter. "NO!" she said in an almost child like manner as the two groups were pulling their respective partners in different directions. As this was happening Ozpin had an amused smirk on his face as he chuckled at this, Glynda noticing this looked like she had enough.

"Headmaster don't you think you should stop this?" she asked as the man shook his head.

"Relax Glynda they're just showing their relief that Mister Arc is alive and relatively well..." he said as he watched the interesting game of 'tug-of-Jaune' "I mean wouldn't you if someone you thought to be dead came back?" he asked as the blonde teacher looked conflicted as she watched the two teams express their happiness.

"Besides its not like they're going to actually harm the boy" he said as the two teams continued to pull on Jaune until…

**CRACK**!

The cafeteria went silent as the two teams stopped their tug of war and looked back to Jaune, who's face was purple while the top half of his body and the bottom half of his body looked crooked.

"JAUNE!" the teams yelled out they dropped the boy to the ground as he twitched and writhed on the ground. The teachers had wide eyes as they looked at the boy now frothing at the mouth.

"Oh dear…looks like they broke him" Ozpin said as he calmly sipped from his coffee mug. Glynda turned her heated gaze to the man as she brandished her riding crop, and struck the man on the head. While back with the group the teams were running around like headless chickens as they tried to figure out what to do in this type of situation.

"WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?!" Ruby yelled over and over again as she ran around the boys semi-conscious body.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!" Weiss yelled at the red clad girl, while Ren and Blake were fanning the boy trying to get him awake. Pyrrha resting his head on her lap.

"WELL DO SOMETHING!" Yang yelled out as she waved her arms in the air.

"We need to give him some air!" Blake said as Pyrrha nodded as she looked down at her partner's semi-conscious face a slight blush on her face as she leaned on closer intent on giving him some 'air'. As this was happening Nora got near the boys chest as she pulled back her fist.

"DON'T DIE ON US JAUNEY!" she yelled as Ren's eyes widened at this "NORA WAIT!" Ren yelled as the orange haired girl slammed her fist into Jaune stomach. Causing the boys eyes to nearly bulge out of his head, as what felt like to him, a jackhammer slamming deep into his stomach.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT NORA!" Pyrrha and Ruby yelled out to Nora as yelled back

"I WAS GIVING HIM CPR!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW YOU GIVE CPR!" Blake yelled as the group fought amongst themselves. The boy curled up into a ball as he struggled for air as everyone was now arguing amongst them selves. Inu appeared beside Jaune, as he looked at the arguing group completely oblivious to the invisible entity.

**"…They're worst then the Grimm"** he said as Jaune could only nod weakly as he held his stomach.

"Tell me about it" he said as decided to black out from the pain.

* * *

**Later at the Infirmary**

* * *

"There that should do it" She said as she admired her own handy work, The nurse just finished bandaging him up as she looked at the boy before her.

"Please take it easy for the next few days Mister Arc, you suffered some major muscle strain trying to make it back to Beacon. Along with multiple small cuts and bruises" she said as Jaune looked at the bandages around his chest and arms, the bandaged boy nodded at the nurse.

"No problem Miss Tester" he said as she left the room to fill out some paperwork.

Nurse Tester was a woman in her mid thirties with long green hair and wore round glasses on her face, and a rather womanly figure if she did say so herself. Beside him were Pyrrha, Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Weiss, Blake, Glynda and Ozpin as they crowded the boys bed hoping he was alright, Yang grinned as she slapped the boy on the back.

"Glad to see you back Vomit Boy" she said as he cringed in pain from the slap.

"Gah!" Instantly she noticed this as she drew her hand back "Whoops! Sorry about that Jaune" she said as the boy only smiled at her "Its ok…didn't hurt at all," he said with a quivering voice as Weiss raised an annoyed eyebrow and poked the boy in the chest.

"OW!" he said as the white haired Heiress shook her head "Stop trying to be cool Jaune and just rest" she said as she pushed the boy back into the bed. Jaune sighed as he rest his head back on the bed and raised his hand to the Heiress "Ok fine I'll rest happy?" he asked as the girl nodded.

"In any case it is good to see you alive and well Mister Arc"" Ozpin said as the boy nodded at this as he narrowed his eyes at his hand that was wrapped in a pristine white bandage.

"Yeah…alive " Ozpin narrowed his eyes at this. Glynda cleared her throat as she looked at the boy.

"You were very lucky to make it out of there alive Mister Arc, and while heroic as it maybe, please do not attempt to have a Grimm chase you into the Forever Falls to save a fellow student." she said as Jaune shook his head.

"Can't make any promises" he said as Glynda sighed while Ozpin chuckled to himself.

"How did you make it back Jaune? The forest would have been crawling with Grimm that late at night" Blake asked as Jaune scratched the back of his head.

"Well…I mostly tried to out run them until I got out of their territories, then they left me alone when I got closer to the city." nodded at this answer. Ruby had a wobbling lip and tears in her eyes as she looked at the blond knight.

"I thought-I thought you-you" she said as Jaune smiled and patted her on the head.

"Please as if some Grimm was going to kill me Crater Face" he said as Ruby blushed at her nickname as she still had to live with the first day incident.

"That was not my fault!" She yelled as she waved her arms in the air. Jaune laughed a little as he looked at her face.

"Relax Ruby I'm completely fine ok?" he said as the girl smiled softly as she nodded at the boy, Inu appeared beside him as he was unseen by the crowed.

**"Despite the fact that you are banished from death"** he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes at the wraith. Pyrrha walked up to his bed as she grabbed his hand in her own, Jaune looked at this before he looked up to see her relieved face.

"I'm so glad your safe Jaune" she said as Jaune looked at the girl with an indifferent face before he turned back to the group.

"Can you guys leave…I need to talk to Pyrrha about something" Ozpin nodded and started to usher them out of the room. Despite their protests, Glynda's glare forced them out. As soon as they were alone in the room Jaune sighed as he hung his head.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked at the boy waiting for him to speak.

"Pyrrha…I'm sorry…" he said as the girl raised an eyebrow. "I said something's that…I'm not proud of…and what happened in the forest made me realise…that I was a complete jerk to you and…I'm sorry" he said as hung his head in shame. He did not expect the girl hug the boy around his chest that caused him to blush red.

"Jaune…I forgave you the moment you came back" she said as Jaune's eyes widened at this. "When everyone thought you were dead, when I thought you were dead…it tore me apart from the inside" she said as the boy listened to her. Her grip on his body tighten ever so slightly, but Jaune only stood still as she continued to talk.

"You were my partner, my friend…and the thought of a Grimm feasting on your corpse burned something wicked inside me…and-and I couldn't stand it" she said as she pulled away and cupped the boys cheek in her hand.

"But you came back to me...and I don't intend to lose you anytime soon" she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek causing him to blush red. She then got up and began to leave the room.

"Roof top three days time…your training starts then" she said as Jaune could only nod at her, as she left the room a small smile on her face as Jaune rubbed the cheek that she just kissed.

"…What just happened?" he asked as Inu palmed himself in the face at the boy obliviousness.

**"…Idiot…"** he said as Jaune continued to look at the door his partner just left from.

* * *

**Meanwhile in the Hall**

* * *

Ozpin smirked as he watched the interaction between Mister Arc and Miss Nikos from his Scroll, as he had access to the schools cameras, minus the dorm rooms. He was relieved that the boy had survived and had managed to make his way back to beacon with as minimal damage to himself as he could.

But question were buzzing inside his mind when the boy turned up in the cafeteria. First how did he survive an entire night in the forest with his current skill level, which was minimal at best, when anyone else would have been wiped out. Second he arrived at Beacon with a rather old and worn harness with a half broken blade that he insisted he keep with him. And Third he seemed rather different from before normally he would chalk it up a post traumatic stress, common in situation like this.

But the way he talked and the way he responded to his comment before struck him as odd, like he didn't know himself if he was alive or not. It was troubling indeed.

"Headmaster?" he heard a voice as he turned to see the nurse that treated him "Ah Miss Tester how can I help you?" he asked a she faced the woman before him.

"Its about the patient, Jaune Arc, I wanted to inform you of something…odd…about him." she said as he raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh?" he said as the woman crossed her arms over her chest "As you know Mister Ozpin, my Semblance allows me to scan another's body for any anomaly's that could cause problems within the future" she said as the man nodded fully knowing this.

"Yes…what of it?" he asked as the woman looked almost confused as if she was trying to figure out something that was odd.

"Well when I scanned his Aura, I felt something…strange…like he had a second Aura inside of him" she as the mans eyes widened slightly. Unnoticed by the nurse.

"I don't know how to explain it, maybe it was his Aura reacting differently to mine thinking I was a threat or it could have been the many people in one room that was throwing mine off balance" she said as she ran over the multiple situations to explain the anomaly.

Ozpin however was deep in thought when he heard this "Two Aura's…" he said to himself "Could he be…" he said as the woman looked confused at the man that seemed to be troubled by this.

"…Headmaster?" she asked as the man shook his head.

"I'm sure it was nothing Miss Tester, the boy probably as a rare condition that made it seem like you sensed two Auras, I'm sure it will be fine" he said as the woman nodded and turned to walk away as the man was left alone in the hall.

As the man was left to himself he turned on his heel as he made his way to his office, fully intent on discovering the mystery of Jaune' behaviour and the second Aura in his system. Unaware of the events that would shake Remnant to its foundations and change this world forever.

"Could he be like him…the man with two souls?"

* * *

**And scene well this is a first attempt of an Idea that has been plaguing my mind since I brought Shadow of Mordor. Basically making Jaune something similar to Talion and Celebrimbor, but unlike Talion Jaune is still alive and ages but is banished from death.**

**If I should continue this story please let me know, leave a review about what you think and let me know.**

**Masseffect-TxS.**


	2. Chapter II: A New Day

RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark, a curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be save…for you have been chose to save it from the ambition of a mad woman and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter two of Shadow's of Remnant, sorry for the wait but I had a lot of stuff to do and little time to write this story, so please enjoy Chapter II.**

* * *

Chapter II: A New Day

* * *

Ever had one of those days when you asked…why the heck did this have to happen to me? Anyone? Don't feel ashamed if you do…Ok off of topic here but…

For those of you who don't know, my name is Jaune Miles Arc, thirteenth heir and the seventh descendant from a long line of hunters and warriors. The youngest brother to seven sisters and currently whishing I had a completely different life.

Why do you ask?

Well before all of this I was just a normal average teenager, who snuck his way into one of the most prestigious hunting schools in the whole of Remnant. Why did I do this you ask? Well I was trying to be something I was not and trying to live up to my family's name…

It…didn't go exactly as I had expected it to…Somehow in the span of half a semester I become leader of my very own team consisting of four strong and powerful individuals who have become my friends.

Lie Ren a stoic and quite young man whom I consider a brother. Nora Valkyrie an overly bubbly and hyperactive, grenade loving, pancake devouring Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos a beautiful red haired goddess that is way to far out of my league…like the same distance from here to the moon.

On top of which I am friends with Ruby Rose a scythe wielding, cookie loving, red riding hood badass. Weiss Schnee a cold and somewhat controlling heiress with the voice of an angel.

Yang Xiao Long an extremely attractive but scary blond brawler who could kick my ass in seventy-five different ways, seventy-three if you minus the crotch region. And Blake Belladonna a distant calm girl who reminds me a lot of a ninja, she is also very nice and friendly to me and hates Cardin...I wonder why?

Another thing you should know about me…I died and was brought back to life by a vengeful spirit with amnesia and a quest for the vengeance, with the fate of Remnant resting on my shoulders…

Yeah I have the worst luck…ever.

From what we know so far Inu, as he wants to be called, was murdered deep within the Forever Fall Forest with a glass Dagger impaled into his chest. Far way from any witnesses whatsoever. Other then that he doesn't seem able to remember much of his own past, let alone his own name.

I accidently became bound to him when I fell off the cliff fighting an Ursa Major; he say's there is something that has bound us together in a curse. And the only other thing I can remember was him talking to a woman clad in white and speaking some weird language…

It also seems that I have gained the powers of a wraith, an undying spirit bound to my body keeping me alive and banishing me from death, meaning I am unable to die, which would be cool if it wasn't…unsettling. It has also given me increased strength and agility, along with an array of new skills I have yet to master or unlock.

This raises even more question…why was I brought back to life? Who is the owner of the glass dagger and why did they have Inu killed so far in the forest? And most of all…

Who was that woman in the white dress…what does she know? What does she want?

…And why me?

* * *

**Next Morning Cafeteria**

* * *

A bandaged Jaune sighed as he sat at his usual table looking at the occupants around him. Teams RWBY and JNPR had always sat together for breakfast ever since they had been selected as Teams. The only time they were not together was certain lectures classes, gym or lights out.

But today Jaune had noticed that his friends were acting weird…weirder then usual.

Most of the group were seated around him specifically with Pyrrha on his right and Ruby on his left. Beside Ruby was Yang followed with Weiss and Blake sitting across from him. While to Pyrrha's left was Nora with Ren sitting across from him.

now normally the seating arrangement never really bothered him before, normally because he was sitting next to Pyrrha most of the time.

But right now his friends were sending him strange looks, ranging from worried and concerned to out right afraid, mostly from Ruby and Pyrrha. And that's wasn't the weirdest thing to happen to him today. This morning he practically woke up to Pyrrha standing over his bed like some sort of night guardian.

It was a little disconcerting the way she seamed to follow his every movements. He though he could get a small brake when he went into the bathroom to have a shower. But was proven wrong when she had Ren, who was surprisingly up before him, watch him in the shower…It was awkward to say the least.

Jaune sighed as he reached over to grab his milk before it was grabbed before him by Ruby and handed it to him. He looked over to see Ruby, as she seemed to watch his every movements. He sighed as he set the glass down and looked to the group.

"Guys don't you think you're taking this a little too…seriously" he said as Ruby shook her heads.

"Jaune you nearly died yesterday! fighting an Ursa Major and managed to make it back to Beacon in relatively one piece…we're just worried about you" Pyrrha said as she grabbed hold of his arm.

"Yeah Jaune after what happened yesterday…we just want you to be safe" Ruby said as she grabbed a hold of his other arm causing her to shot Pyrrha a look that Jaune could not identify.

Jealousy?

As this was happening Yang was chuckling as she watched her little sister being possessive of her blond haired friend. While Blake hid her face behind her book when she saw this. Weiss sighed as she placed her palm to her face, while Ren only chuckled slightly as Nora just ate pancake obliviously to the situation.

Jaune sighed as he swept his hair back trying to stop a migraine from forming "I know but there is a difference between wanting to help someone and coddling them" he said as he looked at the group. "I mean its not going to be the last time I will have to face something like that again right?"

"He is right" Ren said as everyone turned to face the black haired teen who had his fingers laced together while resting under his chin.

"A hunters life is dangerous so death is to be expected in our line of work. And while we can't change the fact that anyone can die. The least we can do is prepare ourselves to avoid the outcome," he said as Jaune looked at the boy.

Inu manifested beside him as he looked at the boy **"He has a point…not accurate in our case…but a valid point"** he said as he crossed his arms and leaned against an empty table. The world oblivious to his existence as Jaune looked at him from the corner of his eye trying not to draw attention.

Jaune then coughed into his hand so that he could grab their attention "So I appreciate the gestures but I'm fine ok?" he asked as he prayed they would lay off him for a bit. Reluctantly the rest of the group nodded, as they could understand his reasoning.

"Thank you…now if you'll excuse me" he said as he got up from his seat and was about to walk away until Pyrrha reached out and grabbed him by the arm.

"Where are you going?" Pyrrha asked as Jaune looked back to the group, Jaune then looked down as he pulled on the orange T-Shirt he had on along with the only other pair of jeans he had.

"I'm heading into Vale to buy some new clothes. My armour was practically destroyed so I need to get a new pair…and Nora accidentally destroyed most of my clothes last night thanks to her patented 'Super Awesome Paint Bomb Supreme' exploding in my closet and dyeing them Pink" he said as he cast his gaze over to Nora as she laughed nervously at the eyes on her.

Ruby got up as she stood next to Jaune "Maybe we can come with you? I'm sure we can help you chose a new set of clothes" she said as she got a nod from the rest of the group.

"Doesn't that defat the purpose of the talk we just had?" Jaune question as she shook her head. "Nope see we were planning to go down anyway. So we thought we might as well just join you" she said as Yang got up as she wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Yeah we'll make you look like a true Knight in shinning armour" "YEAH!" she said as she pumped her fist in the air followed by Nora as she appeared beside the Blonde Brawler.

"Guys I am perfectly capable of going to Vale by myself and picking out a new set of clothes. besides I don't have a bad taste in clothes" he said as Yang shook her head and raised her fingers.

"Three words Jauney-boy…Bunny Eared Onesie's," she said as she received slight chuckles from the group and a depressed look from the boy as he slumped his shoulders.

"Never going to live that down are you?" he said as he regretted having those pair of pyjamas, he originally packed normal pyjamas. But his sisters had swapped them out with out him knowing and left him in the onesie.

"Nope! its too damn funny" she said as she grinned at the boy who only sighed at this as he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

He really hoped that everyone would eventually forget about the pair of onsie's and let him be free of the slight mocking from his friends. Not knowing that it was a screensaver on Pyrrha's and Ruby's scrolls.

"Ok fine you guys can come ok," he said as the group gave a slight cheer while Blake and Ren just did a thumbs up to the boy and then motioned everyone to get up and started to head to the transports.

* * *

**Half an Hour later**

* * *

After thirty minutes of motion sickness on Jaune's half he and his friends soon found themselves walking down towards the shopping district of Vale as they began to find their fellow hunter a new set of armour and clothes. As they walked along they noticed a multiple amount of shops and stalls being set up for the up coming Vale tournament that was to be held soon.

"So what exactly do you need to get Jaune?" Ruby asked as she walked along side her friend, as the rest of the group followed him up from behind. Jaune rubbed his chin as he began to think.

"Well…I need to get some new clothes to replace the damaged ones, a new set of armour and maybe take my shield to be repaired you know basic stuff" he said as he gestured to the sheath on his back.

Ruby held out her hand as she gestured to the sheath "Can I see it" she asked as he pulled the sheath from the harness on his back and handed it to the small huntress, she looked over the sheath and inspected the blade before she sighed an handed it back to Jaune.

"Sorry Jaune I don't think the Sheath can repaired so easily, the mechanisms used in the shield are old, I mean really old, I don't think they even make those type of parts anymore…the sword however looks to be in good condition so you don't have to worry about that" she said as Jaune placed the blade back in the harness.

"I figured as much" he said as he then drew the second blade from his back. "What about this?" he asked as the small huntress took the broken blade from his hand and inspected it.

"This is…odd" she said as everyone gathered around the blade.

"This blade seems almost identical to your other blade, despite it being broken and should still function as a good side blade for smaller targets" she then tested the grip and felt the weight of the blade.

"Its still balanced despite being broken…whoever made this was a master of the arts," she said as Jaune took the blade back and placed it in the sheath. He felt Inu stir in his mind as if he was concentrating on something.

_'Inu you ok?'_ he asked mentally as not to seem crazy in front of his friends, Inu shook his head as he seemed to settle down.

**"Its nothing…my memories are still blocked…I thought I had something but it's still clouded,"** he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes at the spirit before regaining his focus on his friends that were looking at him oddly.

"…Uh Jaune you spaced out there for a little but...Are you ok?" Blake as asked as crossed her arms over chest.

Jaune just scratched his cheek as he grinned to the group "I'm fine I was just thinking of…where I was going to get new clothes" he said as he chuckled nervously at the group.

Yang grinned as she spun around and pointed towards a building labelled 'The Hunter Attire' the building was painted dark blue with the image of a hunter wearing a cowboy like attire on the sign.

"Right there is the best place in the whole of Vale to buy your gear. They even do custom jobs and dust weaving" she said as she placed her hands triumphantly on her hips. Jaune smiled when he saw the store.

"Wow…you really know your stuff huh Yang?" he said as the girl nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

"Yes I do Vomit boy cause when it come to fashion I have…style" she said as she grinned at her pun. The teams just looked at her as they groaned at her pun. Inu manifested beside Jaune as he looked at the blond girl.

**"…Does she do that often?"** he asked as Jaune only sighed as he nodded at the spirit. The spirit sighed as it placed his palm to his face. **"…This is one of those times I wish I could pass on,"** he said as Jaune nodded in agreement.

_'You and me both'_ he thought as he and the rest of the group ignored her and walked into the store. Jaune had to admit he was impressed as he saw rows and rows of clothing, armour and weapons stacked in order of price and versatility.

Instantly Ruby disappeared as she searched all the weapons in the store with a glint in her eyes and slight hint of drool from her mouth. Jaune on the other hand was looking thought the aisles of clothing and armour as he tried to pick out a new outfit.

His first option came from Nora as she showed a large set of grey armour with spikes on the pads, skull prints on the chest plate and a flaming red Mohawk like fur on the helmet.

She was instantly shot down as Ren pointed out that he would never actually fit into the armour much less move in it. Nora huffed as she easily carried the heavy set of armour, clearly away upset that they shot down her choice.

Weiss showed him a pristine white set of armour with gold trimmings, a series of dust capsules for combat and a personalised engraving of a dragon on the chest plate. At first Jaune thought it was the one for him…until he saw the price and instantly shot it down, much to the Heiress chagrin and mumbling about ungrateful blonds.

Yang showed him a set of dark brown clothes that were similar to an old cowboy movie with a wide brim hat and a long red scarf. Pyrrha shot this one down as she pointed out that while the clothes looked easy to move in, they offered little in defence.

Blake showed a set of leather bound armour dyed green with a long green elf like hat and a chain mail like armour underneath. Jaune politely declined as he said he would look more like a pixie in that outfit…that and Yang kept making puns about him being like Link.

"Jaune" a voice said as Jaune continued to look through the clothes until he heard his name and turned to see Ruby and Pyrrha each carrying a bundle of clothing under their arms as they approached the boy.

"Ruby and I think we found just what you are looking for" Pyrrha said as she handed him the clothes. She and Ruby then proceeded to push him towards the dressing room without giving him a second to question before he was shoved in the room.

"Don't I get a say?" he asked more himself then the two huntresses as he set the clothes down on the bench before shifting through the clothes. And began to undress as he set his old clothes down and place the new ones on.

Jaune sighed as he shifted through a stack of clothes left by his friend and partner, until Inu then manifested beside him as he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the boy.

**"Why are we wasting our time doing this trivial activity? We should be searching for answers not clothing"** he said as he eyed the clothes as Jaune pulled out a long black sleeve shirt and pulled it over his head.

"There is not much we can do? We have no leads to go on, other then the glass dagger, and we have no idea who we are suppose to find in the first place…" he looked at a pair of gauntlets before putting them on and searching again for the pair of pants left for him.

"Besides even if we did I at least need to protect myself," he communicated to the spirit as he pulled out a brown belt with small pouches lining the belt. Inu only mumbled to him silently as he found the activity to be a waste of time.

**"That maybe, but time is something we may not even have…"** he said as Jaune raised an eyebrow at this. Inu sighed as he leaned against the wall of the dressing room.

**"Like I said as far as I know there has never been anything like us in the existence of Remnant. For all I know we could have a limited time before your body starts to decay"** he said as Jaune' eyes widened at this.

**"But I don't think that is the case as your body is naturally healing itself and you can eat food. If you were fully dead, the food wouldn't even digest itself and would just sit in you stomach"** He said as Jaune subconsciously placed a hand to his stomach.

**"Not to mention that your body is functioning normally and you require sleep and to relieve yourself"** he said as Jaune's face turned slightly green at this.

"…You really know how to make a guy depressed don't you?" he said to the spirit as Inu merely shook off the comment.

**"Then it would be wise to start searching for answers and soon"** he said and then receded into the back of his mind as Jaune thought for a moment.

"…Easier said then done" Jaune said as he placed on the white chest plate and the shin guards.

"Hey Jaune you done yet?" he heard Yang ask as the other had grown somewhat impatient, mostly her and Weiss. Jaune then realised that he spent too much time talking to Inu that he lost track of time.

"Sorry…I got distracted…almost ready" he said as he then got out of the dressing room. Fidgeting and adjusting the straps on his armour, he then stepped out to reveal his new clothes.

His clothes consisted of a black long sleeve shirt with white chest plate and long grey pants with dark brown leather boots that went up to his knees, with white metal shin guards and two white bracers with black fingerless gloves on his hands.

He had the harness for his swords attached to his back with the handles visible from his right shoulder, with a utility belt attached around his waist with two pouches on the back. He spun around and flexed his arms as he tried to get a feel for the armour.

He smiled as he felt the armour move to his will, "So…What do you guys think?" he asked as he waited for the others to reply.

Yang grinned as she crossed her arms over her chest "Not bad vomit boy, you actually look cool this time" she said as Jaune felt the unintentional stab to his pride at that comment.

Blake nodded as eyed the new armour on the boy "It should suffice" she said as she was more focused on the second sword on his back. As if she was trying to remember something about it.

Weiss crossed her arms, as she looked at the boy "You don't look as incompetent as when we first met" she said before she felt Blake subtly elbowed her in the rib.

Ren nodded as he looked at his team leader "I think this suits you" he said as approved of his new attire. "You look awesome!" Nora said in her overly bubbly self, but then went on to fantasies about dancing pancakes.

Pyrrha smiled as she looked at the armour "Ruby and I hoped you would like it Jaune, the chest plate is made of a lightweight, but strong metal that is commonly used by hunters" she said as she pointed to the chest.

"The Gauntlets are made of the same metal and can withstand and deflect attacks so it should serve as shield of sorts" she said as she pointed to his gauntlets while he inspected the white metal.

"But I think it's missing something…" Ruby said before a light bulb appeared over her head as she disappeared and reappeared with a piece of cloth in her arms. "Try this," she said as she handed him the cloth.

Jaune only shrugged as he looked at the cloth before him, the cloth then turned out to be a cloak, similar to Ruby's, but with holes for his harness and was dyed dark navy blue, with a hood attached and a fur like collar.

Jaune then clasped the cloak around his shoulders as he replaced the harness back on through the holes of the cloak. He then looked at himself in the mirror as he saw his reflection, and smiled as he saw himself in his new clothes.

To him he looked like a true hunter, a warrior that was trained in combat and ready to face the troubles that plagued the innocent…

But then he remembered his situation as he frowned; this instantly caught the attention of the others as they saw his face. "You ok Jaune? Don't you like it?" Ruby asked innocently but hid the fact she was a little hurt. Realising that he had caused a slight misunderstanding, the glare from Yang was proof enough, as he waved his hands in front of himself.

"No, No I do I really do! I was just thinking of how something else, I didn't mean to worry you" he said as Yang lessened her glare.

Pyrrha placed a hand on his arm as she held a look of concern on her face, "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, as she looked him in the eye. Jaune shook his head as he removed her hand from his arm.

"Its nothing Pyrrha I promise" he said as he felt a twinge of guilt for lying to her face.

Pyrrha looked unconvinced as she gazed at him, her soul and instincts telling her that something was bothering him. Just like when Cardin was blackmailing him only worst. Last time she didn't act on it and it nearly cost her partner, she was not willing to make the same mistake twice.

Jaune could see the unrest as he held her arm "I promise I'm fine…please drop it ok?" he said as he tried once more to convince her.

Realising that she would not get anything out of him she sighed and nodded her head "Ok…I'll drop it for now…but I will find out" she said with hint of determination in her voice, almost as if it were a promise.

Jaune slightly chuckled nervously as he nodded to the determined amazon, "Dually noted," he said as he smiled to the girl.

After paying for the clothes and a few spares, thanks to the store manager giving them a discount because of Weiss and Pyrrha, the gang decided to spend the rest of their Friday wandering around Vale, as they were eager to see what kind of stalls and vendors that the city was setting up for the tournament.

The Vytal Regional Tournament was a time when students and hunters from all over Remnant would gather and participate in the tournament to prove their mettle and their worth.

Weiss Schnee was more dancing in the street with a smile on her face, shocker I know, as she went on and on about the up coming festival. Talking all about its significance and its tournament.

"Weiss why are we at the docks?" Jaune asked as he noticed that she had lead him, his team and hers to the docks, the whole place smelt of fish that made the boy scrunch his nose in disgust.

"If you must know students from all over the kingdoms are coming to preform in the Vytal tournament. And I thought as a representative of Beacon, we should properly introduce ourselves," she said as they walked over to where students from Vacuo would depart.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand on them for the tournament," Blake said as they walked along the side of the docks, she could easily see through the heiresses ploy of tagging along after shopping for Jaune's attire.

Weiss huffed at this as she crossed her arms "You can't prove that" she said as she huffed in annoyance.

"Well it would be a good idea to know the competition before hand" Pyrrha said as she walked along side her partner with Ruby flanking him from the left.

"Thank you! Someone on your team see's sense, unlike your leader who couldn't find his way out of a paper bag if he tried" Weiss said as Jaune felt a verbal stab at that comment.

"Harsh" Ren commented silently along side Nora, as she seemed more interested in the seagulls that flew overhead, and laughed profoundly when it pooped on a passing bystander. Ruby was about to comment when she turned her head to the side.

"Wow…" she said as she managed to grab the attention of everyone else, they turned to see the Vale police in front of a shop that was now covered in yellow police tap and had its windows shattered. The team made their way down, as they wanted to see what had happened.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked the officer as he wrote down notes on his scroll device. He turned his head to see the eight teens as they looked at the shop in curiosity.

"Robbery second Dust shop to be hit this week" he said as he looked at the shop, "This place is turning into a jungle" he said as he walked over to his partner.

"Oh that's terrible" Yang said as she felt bad for the shop owners.

"What's strange is that they left all the money" one of the detectives said as the group listened in. "I mean who just breaks in, leaves the money and only takes the dust, I mean who needs that much Dust anyway?" the man said as he scratched the side of his head. "What do you reckon Mike?" he asked his partner.

"Reckon it could be you know…The White Fang?" he said as Blake flinched silently at the comment, unaware that Inu had seen her flinch. "But then again I'm not payed enough to think" he said as he and his partner went back to investigating the scene.

Weiss huffed as she heard this "The White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates" she said with small amount of venom that she did not attempt to hide.

Blake looked annoyed as she looked at the heiress "What's your problem?" she asked yet somehow knowing what she will say next.

Weiss looked back at her as if she was the one that were offended "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminal insane," she said with a hint of arrogance in her voice.

"The White Fang are not a bunch of sociopaths, they are a collection of misguided Faunus" Blake argued back.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity of the face of the planet!" she argued with extreme prejudice.

**"That is not our intention!"** Inu yelled as Jaune grunted slightly as his head rang from the loud yell of the angry spirit. Jaune was looking more shocked as he saw his self-called 'Snow Angel' show a side he did not know, and he had to admit it was ugly.

"Then they're very misguided. Besides it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust store in the middle of Down-town Vale?" Blake defended as she crossed her arms in annoyance of the white haired girl.

"She has a point Weiss" Ruby said as she stood near her partner, "I mean it could have been that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago?" she said as she looked at the damage. "They never did capture him," she said as Ren nodded at this.

"It is too soon to cast blame on something they may or may not have. They might not have even done this" Ren advised in a sage like tone, Jaune nodded at this. "He is right" Jaune said as Blake smiled at the two for having an open mind on the matter.

Pyrrha looked at the wreckage as she analysed the area "Besides this store was only carrying a small amount of Dust, I doubt a huge organization would waste unnecessary man-power to rob one store" she said as Jaune nodded.

Weiss however was unconvinced "That still doesn't excuse them, the White Fang are a bunch of scum, Those Faunus know nothing but lying, cheating and stealing" she said with a hint of arrogance on her voice.

**"AND YOUR FAMILY ONLY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE MY PEOPLE SUFFER!"** Inu yelled in Jaune's mind that caused him to grab his head in pain, this went unnoticed by all except Ren as he looked curiously at the boy.

Yang looked slightly disgusted by Weiss comment as she found her prejudice to be uncomfortable. "Come on Weiss that's not entirely true" she said that caused Blake to feel some comfort.

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!"

A voice yelled out as Jaune slapped himself on the forehead "…Oh come on that's just bad timing" he deadpanned as they all turned and ran back to the docks.

What they saw when they got there definitely surprised them, a young man with blond hair and a long monkey tail wearing a white button shirt opened, blue short pants, white and black sneakers and red gauntlets being chased by the ship hands.

The young Faunus got up on the railing if only to mock them, "Thanks for the ride guys!" he said before he jumped off the boat and ran up to a street lamp.

"YOU NO GOOD STOW AWAY!" one of the deck hands yelled as he shook his fist at the boy, the boy smirked as he hung upside down on the lamp pole while peeling a banana.

"Hey a 'no good stow away' would have been caught, I am a great stow away" he said as he ate into his banana.

Just then the two officers from the crime scene came down to see what the commotion was as they stood directly under the boy. "Get down now!" one of the officers said as he glared up at the Faunus.

Jaune from a distant watched a mischievous glint appeared in his fellow blonds eyes, his eyes widened as he realised what the Faunus was going to do _'Don't throw the banana peel! Don't throw the banana peel!'_ he thought to himself praying that he wouldn't do what he was planning to do.

**Splat! **

Jaune blanched as he heard the indisputable sound of a banana peel hitting the man directly in the face _'He threw the banana peel…'_ he thought as he saw the Faunus running from the angry cops.

The teen ran just passed them as he gave a subtle wink to Blake before he dashed down the street with two cops after him. Yang smirked as she saw this "Well Weiss you wanted to see the completion…and there he goes" she said before Weiss realised she was right.

"Quick we have to observe him!" she said as she and team RWBY ran after him, Jaune sighed as he saw them leave.

"Guess we gotta follow them too huh?" he said before his team followed after them, the two teams were soon in high pursuit as they turned and dodged around every building and street.

With Nora making epic car chase noises and swerves as she hopped on Ren's back and pretended to drive him like a car. Ren having already been use to this didn't argue as he chased after the group who was chasing after the Monkey tailed Faunus.

But just as they turned around a corner Weiss slammed into someone as she fell to the ground. Followed by Nora making an epic car crash noise and hid behind Ren's shoulders as Weiss glared at her.

"Damn it we lost him!" Weiss said annoyed as she searched for the blond haired Faunus, the others had just caught up to her and looked surprised at what they saw.

"Uh…Weiss?" Yang said as the girl in white looked down before jumping back in surprise, down below her was a girl with orange hair in curls around her head with a pink bow on top, she was wearing a beige colour dress with black pants and green lines running down the sides and around her neck.

"Salutations!" the strange girl on the ground said as she lay flat as a board on the ground, it was kind of odd.

"Um…are you ok?" Yang asked as they stared at the girl, the girl just gave a rather weird smile as she still lay on the ground.

"I am great thank you for asking," she said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Um…do you want to get up?" Pyrrha asked, as the girl seemed to ponder this thought before nodding her head.

"Yes" she said before did a forward flip that put her back on her feet in an instant, the others backed away slightly at the strange girl, except Nora who had sparkle in her eyes.

"My name is Penny, it is a pleasure to meet you," she said with a smile on her face.

"Hey Penny I'm Ruby" Ruby introduced to herself followed by everyone else.

"I'm Jaune" Jaune said with a simple wave of his had to the girl.

"Pyrrha nice to meet you" Pyrrha said next to Jaune with a smile on her face.

"Weiss" said with her usual uptight attitude.

"Blake" she said honestly.

"Lie Ren" Ren said with a slight bow to the girl.

"I'm Nora nice to meet you fellow Red Head" Nora said with a big smile on her face while Ren rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before Blake elbowed her in the ribs, she chuckled nervously before she reintroduced herself "I'm Yang".

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Penny said before Weiss raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"You already said that" she said as the girl registered what she said.

"So I did," she said as the others looked slightly confused at the strange girl, it was almost as if she was not use to being…alive.

**"Strange girl?"** Inu commented as Jaune nodded slightly at the spirit **"What's more she is giving off a strange Aura?"** Inu said as Jaune raised an eyebrow at this.

_'What do you mean?'_ Jaune communicated to the spirit through their shared connection.

**"Its almost as if her Aura was…placed in her? Not born naturally…strange indeed"** he said as Jaune looked at the orange haired girl in confusion, he knew that all begins except Grimm had Aura from what Pyrrha told him, but if Inu said was true…what was she.

"Well sorry for bumping into you" Weiss said in a desperate attempt to get away from the strange acting girl.

"It was nice meeting you friend" Ruby said as she waved goodbye to her "Take care friend" Jaune said as well being his usual polite self, the two never realised the stunned look on the girls face.

"She was…odd" Yang commented as the two teams walked away from the girl.

"Now where did that Faunus riffraff went off to?" Weiss said as she searched for the blond monkey Faunus, but just as she turned around she was met face-to-face with Penny.

"What did you call me?" she asked as Weiss was looking back and forth between where she was and where she used to be in confusion.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't think you heard me," Yang said as she apologised to the girl, she definitely didn't mean to insult the orange haired girl. "I'm sure Yang didn't mean to say it" Pyrrha said in defence of the blond haired girl.

"Not you…" she said as she walked past the group until she stood before Jaune and Ruby "You two" she said as they both backed away slightly from the girl.

"Us?" Jaune said in confusion while Ruby stuttered and mumbled at the girl.

"You two called me 'Friend'…I'm a truly your friend?" she asked with what Jaune could interpret as hope in her otherwise confused and curious eye's.

"Um…" they said as they looked back to their friends who were shaking their heads and waving their hands in front of them to tell them to say no, except Nora who was grinning and nodding her head with thumbs up while Ren and Pyrrha looked confused.

Jaune and Ruby looked to each other before Jaune shrugged his shoulders and nodded to Ruby. "Yeah sure? Why not?" Ruby said as Jaune nodded to the girl, the others stared before Weiss, Yang and Blake collapsed over while Nora whooped with glee.

Penny had a huge smile on her face as she threw her hands into the air "SENSATIONAL!" she declared with glee. "We can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boy's" she said, as did a little dance.

Ruby stared for a brief moment as she looked at the hyperactive girl before her, "Oh was this what it was like when you met me?" She asked Weiss as she got up off the ground.

"No she seems way more co-ordinated" Penny then turned to Jaune and pointed to him "And you can be my Boyfriend" she said with the same innocents as a lost puppy. This caused an interesting reaction amongst the group as Jaune blushed like mad while doing a spit take at this.

"B-B-BOYFRIEND!" he, Pyrrha and Ruby yelled out at the same time with red faces. Pyrrha was blustering red as small amounts of steam rose from her head. Ruby was blushing deep red as she hid her face into her hood, Yang had a shocked look on her face but soon changed to humour as she chuckled at the boy.

"Hahahahaha!" she laughed as Pyrrha and Ruby turned a heated gaze to the blond brawler. Small bits of metal began to bend around her while Ruby was itching her hand towards Crescent Rose.

Weiss and Blake had stunned faces while Ren held his palm to his face "Good grief" he said as Nora just laughed innocently at the scene. Jaune was blushing red as he held his hands in front of him.

"Um…Penny what do you mean by b-boyfriend?" he asked as the girl looked curiously at him.

"My Boyfriend? A boy who is also my friend…what do you think I meant?" she asked in curiosity, which had allowed Jaune and the two red heads to breath a sigh of relief while Yang just chuckled at the three.

"Not Funny Yang!" Ruby said to her sister as the blond brawler continued to laugh at the horrible misunderstanding.

"It so is," she said as Jaune just growled slightly at the girl before she turned back to Penny as she had a huge smile plastered on her face. "So what are you doing in Vale?" she asked as the girl bounced on her feet.

"I'm here to fight in the Tournament," she said as Weiss raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Your fighting in the Tournament?" she questioned as the girl looked to the heiress and saluted to her.

"I'm combat ready," she said as saluted the heiress who did not looked convinced. She sent a quick glance to the girl as she analysed the girl.

"Excuse me but you don't look the part" she said as Blake raised an eyebrow to the girl. "Says the girl wearing a dress," she said as the young heiress simply crossed her arms and bounced slightly on her heels and said proudly.

"It's a combat skirt," she said as Ruby, Nora who dragged Pyrrha with appeared beside the girl.

"Yeah!" while simultaneously slapping their hands together as Jaune slightly chuckled at the odd behaviour. Nora whipped out a pair of shades, and did a gangster peace sign to the girl.

"Wait?" Weiss said as she realized something "If you're fighting in the tournament, then that means you know where that monkey-tailed rapscallion ran off to?" she said as Blake glared at the girl.

"Who?" Penny asked confused. Weiss then pulled out a crudely drawn picture of the monkey Faunus and showed it to the girl. "The filthy Faunus" she said as she held up the picture.

"Stop calling him that!" Blake yelled as they turned to face the girl. "Stop calling him a degenerate! Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a filthy Faunus! He is a person!" she said to the girl in white.

"Oh I'm sorry! Do you want me to stop referring this trash can as a trash can?" she gestured to the metal bin. "Or this lamp post as a lamp post?" she then pointed to the lamppost. Inu growled inside Jaune's mind as Jaune felt his left arm twitch in anger as blue flames peaked through his fist.

"Stop it!" Blake yelled to the struck up heiress as she glared at the black clad girl.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law! Give him time he will eventually join up with the other Faunus in the White Fang"

Jaune looked down at his left hand that surged with blue flames as Inu's rage continued to grow. It was taking every Jaune's strength just to stop him from taking over. "Weiss stop it!" Jaune said through clenched teeth but seemed to be ignored by the white girl.

"That's not true, not every Faunus joins up with White Fang! Some even oppose it!"

"No they don't! because deep down every single on of them is the same! Liars!" Jaune's arm pulsed with blue flames as he grabbed his wrist.

"Cheaters!" his arm was now shaking as he desperately tried to regain control of his arm "Weiss Stop!" he pleaded as the girl once again ignored him.

"And Murderers!"

CRACK!

Everyone jumped back in shock as Jaune's left hand smashed into the side of the brick building, causing a large spider web pattern to appear in the brick wall.

He then got up in Weiss's face and as his eyes glowed dark blue **"Like what your family has done for the past fifty years!"** his voice now replaced by Inu's as he took over Jaune's body.

**"How many innocent Faunus slaves were put to death in dark mines? While your family profited from their suffering? How many you insolent little girl? HOW MANY!" **An Inu possessed Jaune screamed to the frightened girl as her back hit the back of the wall.

Weiss eyes were wide in fear as his eyes seemed to glow blue like flames as she could of sworn she saw a terrifying figure behind his eyes. Before Jaune could react, Inu went to grab his blade as he felt the spirits undying rage was about to kill the heiress.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled as he snapped back in control. He looked around to see the stunned face's of his friends and the terrified look on Weiss's as she stumbled back from Jaune in fear, the memory of his glowing blue eyes burning into her soul.

Jaune looked down as the flames quickly disappeared from his hand and seeped back into the scar on his had.

"Geez Jaune? What the heck was that about?" Yang asked, as she looked at the boy confused and slightly scared just like everyone else. Jaune shook his head as he turned to his friends.

"I'm sorry guys I…I don't know what came over me, I-I'll meet you guys back at beacon!" he said as he turned and left his friends that called out to him. But he ignored them as he ran down an alley way and slumped against and abandoned street.

As Jaune tired to catch his breath Inu appeared beside him as he turned to the transparent spirit "What the heck was that Inu! You can't just take over my body like that!" he said aloud to the spirit as he looked down in shame.

**"I'm sorry Jaune…I-I didn't mean to do that. But she was casting blame on all of my people and ignoring the crimes of her family. I promise it wont happen again"** he said as Jaune ran a hand over his face.

"Look I understand that you hate the Schnee family, but don't go taking over my body just to voice your opinions to Weiss. You really scared her, what if she saw something" he said as he feared of the affect he had on her as Inu.

**"She didn't see anything I assure you and I will keep my anger in check…"** he then walked in front of Jaune as he pointed his hand towards the west. **"But walk a field full of your own dead that suffered and died to supply someone else's wealth and tell me you would not feel rage at that"** he said as he receded back into Jaune.

Jaune sighed as he walked away and tried to gather his head after what just happened. "This is going to get harder before it gets better? Better start my search" he muttered to himself as he walked the street of Vale.

* * *

**Later that night in front of Team JNPR room**

* * *

Jaune walked down the hall as he just returned from his brief walk around Vale, "We couldn't find anything on a girl with fire like eyes and we asked every police station and cop in the city" Jaune said as he walked towards his dorm room.

**"If we want to find her, we have to start searching the dark sides of town if we want some answers" **Inu said within Jaune's mind.** "But where do we begin our search is the hard part?"** he said as Jaune nodded before he looked at his scrolls time.

"Man we were away for a long time, Pyrrha must be worried about me, better not make her wait" he said as he just reached for his teams door when yelling could be heard next door.

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!" Blake's voice echoed in the dorm before it was followed by silence. Jaune stared briefly before the door burst open and Blake went running out as small tears could be seen as she ran past Jaune.

Ruby soon dashed to the door as she yelled out "Blake wait!" she yelled as she tried to see where the black clad girl had run off to. But she was long gone.

Jaune turned to the girls "What happened?" he asked as Ruby jumped slightly at seeing the blond knight.

"Jaune! When did you get back? Are you feeling better?" she asked as she remembered Jaune's brief moment of anger.

"Yeah I'm fine I'm sorry I scared you guys, it's just something I'd rather not talk about...but what happened? And what's wrong with Blake?" he asked as Yang walked up to her sister and fellow blond.

"I don't know Weiss and Blake were arguing and then Blake just ran out of here" yang said as she was worried about her partners sudden and unexpected outburst.

"Will you guys be ok?" he asked concerned.

"We'll be fine Jaune, Blake just needs sometime…Weiss too" Ruby said as Jaune looked past his shoulder to the white haired heiress as she angrily stared out the window.

"Ok well goodnight guys"

"Night Jaune" they said as Jaune returned to his room to reassure his team that his was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

Pyrrha tired to ask "Jaune are you ok? What's wrong?" she asked as he retuned to his team room.

"I'm fine Pyrrha I just…knew someone I'd rather not talk about. I'm sorry I scared you guys, I promise I'm fine" he said as he forced a smile on his face.

Pyrrha would have argued when Ran placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "He will tell us when he is ready Pyrrha, just don't push it and let it happen" he said as the red hair warrior.

Reluctantly she nodded as the team soon went to sleep, all expect Jaune as he stared up at the ceiling of the room, his left hand hovering above his head as blue flames circulated around the scar.

But his mind was more on Blake and the brief moment when he saw tears coming out of her eyes as she ran past him. _'I wonder why she was crying? Why did she get so upset about Weiss's comments about the Faunus?'_

Jaune asked himself as he wondered about the mysterious black clad girl with the black bow, Inu manifested beside his bed above his dresser as heard the boy's question **"Its because she is a Faunus"** he said as Jaune's eyes widened at this.

_'Blake is a Faunus? But how?'_ he asked as the man pointed to the top of his head.

**"She hides her ears under her bow. Our kind aren't welcome by yours and are constantly discriminated into hiding our true selves, you have seen it yourself have you not?"** he said as Jaune remembered back in the cafeteria when Cardin was bullying Velvet, just because of her ears.

**"Can you imagine what it is like, to be hated and feared because you are different from everyone else…it hurts us inside, the feeling of rejection"** he said as Jaune felt shame in his own people.

"**Your people were always afraid of things you do not understand and act irrationally because of it…but I guess the same can be said of my kind, it is an endless cycle of fear and hate, with no clear end in sight"** he said as he looked out to the moon.

_'Isn't there anything that can change it?'_ Jaune asked as the spirit shook his head.

**"None that I know of? Maybe one day, but not yet…and what do you think of her? Now that you know her secret?"** he asked as Jaune looked confused at this. **"Will you see her differently now? Or as the person you know?"** he asked as Jaune only smiled slightly.

_'Does it matter?'_ he said as Inu raised an eyebrow at this, _'I don't care if she is a Faunus or not, to me she will always be Blake, and she will always be my friend and I want to help her, like how I want to help you'_ Jaune said as Inu stared in shock at the boy.

He then smiled slightly as he disappeared and left Jaune alone with his thoughts until sleep finally took him and the world was dark for him, his mind now focused on the pain that Blake must be feeling.

And vowed that he would help her and her people, no matter what.

* * *

**Ozpin's Office Later that night**

* * *

Late at night at the top of the tower in Beacon was the headmaster's office; this allowed the headmaster to see all of the students in their everyday life.

Originally it was once located on the ground level but Ozpin had redesigned it to act as a command centre if the time ever came, giving him a wide view of the battlefield. Some would call him paranoid or cautious, he of course prefers the term tactician.

But at the moment nothing else mattered as he scoured through the vast majority of his book collection in an attempt to find a certain book, one that would pertain to a certain blond haired knight. He had a hunch about the boy and his hunches were usually right.

All the time…

Finally after hours of searching he found it as he dusted off the old leather bound book, words written in an old language that few could ever hope to decipher, unless of course you were a headmaster at the top Hunters Academy in all of Remnant.

He placed the book on his desk as he looked at the old and faded book with a great amount of concern as he began to think of the similarities between it and the young Arc as he read the title.

He sighed as he began to the read the contents of the book all the while thinking 'What has happened to you Mister Arc…what have you become?'

He stared down at the cover of the old leather bound book as the words read 'Legend of the GraveWalker: A tale of Two Souls'

* * *

**And scene, Well here is Chapter II of Shadows of Remnant sorry for the wait but I have been very busy lately with a small job I was doing that is mentally frustrating and exhausting.**

**But please enjoy and leave a review so that I know what you think of it. Sincerely Masseffect-TxS **


	3. Chapter III: Battle at the Docks

RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark, a curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be save…for you have been chose to save it from the ambition of a mad woman and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

* * *

Chapter III: Battle at the Docks

* * *

In the early morning at a local café in the center of town sat two individuals, one was a boy with blond hair and monkeys tail casually sipping a cup of tea with the girl a cross from him. The girl had raven black hair and amber coloured eyes with a pitch-black bow resting comfortably on top of her head.

Her name was Blake Belladonna, a member of Team RWBY and recently discovered a Faunus in hiding. And yesterday did not go so well for her, yesterday after helping Jaune buy his new clothes, they came across a crime scene with the suspects being White Fang members. This was soon followed by the arrival of the boy across from her Sun Wukong, a transfer student from a neighbouring Kingdom, who snuck aboard a cargo ship to Vale and got chased by the V.P.D. this spawned her teammate Weiss Schnee to follow the Faunus boy to question him.

After failing to find him the situation turned worst when the heiress began spewing rude and unconventional comments about the Faunus people, her people, and show little remorse whatsoever.

Then the strangest thing happened when Jaune Arc, the leader of Team JNPR, suddenly exploded in anger accusing her family of fifty years of Faunus suffering and pain. While she slightly enjoyed seeing the Heiress being thrown off her high horse and backed into a corner, She was slightly scared, as she had noticed that he was acting differently from his usual personality.

She knew that Jaune had a crush on the white haired heiress and she tolerated his advances as she normally did, by completely brushing him off. But when he raged at her for her comments on the Faunus, he showed something strange. An unbridled fury screaming for revenge and retribution, the same kind that her people cried out for, but Jaune wasn't a Faunus, he couldn't know what it was like to be discriminated or abused like her kind.

Could he?

Setting it aside for later she placed her cup back down as she looked at the boy across from him. "So…" she said as she got his attention "You wanted to know about me" she said as she stared at the liquid in her cup. Unknown to either of them, leaning on the side of the roof on the other side of the street, they were being observed. Jaune narrowed his eyes as he looked at the pair; after cunningly sneaking out of his room without waking up Pyrrha or his team he left first thing in the morning to find Blake.

It wasn't hard to do, Inu had shown him how to track her down thanks to her aura signature and the footprints they leave behind, one that only someone in his 'condition' could see and follow.

He had managed track her down to small café in the centre of the city and had somehow met up with the Faunus stowaway that Weiss was chasing yesterday, as the two were now enjoying a cup of tea on the balcony. He wanted to call team RWBY and let them know that he found her, but Inu told him not to and wait to see what was going on with her. Jaune was against the idea of spying, but had little choice as Inu pointed out that Blake might know something that could help them, however little it maybe.

"I don't know about this Inu, I don't like the idea of spying on one of my friends like this it feels…wrong" Jaune spoke to the spirit inside of him, Inu manifested beside him as he gazed down at the pair on the café deck.

**"Right and wrong have nothing to do with this Jaune, all that matters is finding the woman that murdered me and why she did it. And I believe she holds the key to our search, besides for some reason I feel like I've seen her before"** he said as he focused on the girl.

Jaune shook his head as he leaned in closer as he tried to hear what they were saying but couldn't "Well it will be hard if I can't hear them" he said as the Wraith rolled his eyes to the boy.

**"Then use my eyes and ears"** he said before he disappeared and Jaune felt a rush of energy forming in his eyes and ears as he began to hear every small detail, the passing bystanders below, the smallest bugs wings and his own beating heart…he could hear everything.

"Whoa…is this what its like to be a Faunus?" he asked as the spirit nodded silently to the boy.

**"Indeed…you humans hear and see things so differently from us, you are blind and deaf to the world, you cannot hear the wind sing or feel the subtle shifts in the ground, we are more in tuned with nature then you…I'm surprised your kind has managed to survive for so long"** he said as the boy shook off the last comment and focused his hearing to the pair.

"Finally she speaks! For two days you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks" Sun exasperated as Blake glared slightly at him. "Yeah see like that" he said before Blake shook her head at the boy.

"Tell me Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang?" she asked as the boy nodded to her, Jaune leaned in closer to hear the conversation.

"Of course I do, I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet that hasn't heard about them, stupid holier then thou creeps who use force to get whatever they want, bunch of freaks if you ask me!" he said as he then sipped from his cup.

"…I was actually a member once " she said as Sun then couched up his tea in shock, while on the other side of the street Jaune face palmed himself at the blonds less the subtle response.

"…Smooth buddy…real smooth"

"Whoa, Whoa wait a minute! You?! Were a member of the White Fang?" he asked the girl in shock as she only nodded at him.

"For most of my life actually…you could say I was even born into it" she said as he began her tale.

"Back then things were different, in the ashes of War the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between the Faunus and the humans…but of course despite the promise of equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate" she said as she hung her head in sorrow.

"Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings and so the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people" this time Jaune looked down in shame at the way his people had treated hers, he felt sick and disgusted to be human.

"And I was there at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott, because I thought we were actually making a difference…but I was young and youthfully optimistic that I couldn't see the truth…we were getting nowhere" she said as she looked at the tea.

"Then five years ago our leader stepped down and a new one took his place; a new leader with a new way of thinking…" Jaune suddenly felt Inu stir in rage at this but kept quite as he listened in.

"Suddenly our peaceful rallies were replaced with organized attack, shops and business were burnt to the ground for refusing to serve us and we were hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour, and the worst part…it was actually working, we were being treated like equals, but not of respect…but out of fear" she finished as he placed her tea back down. Jaune looked on in shame and sadness as he heard the young Faunus story of pain and hardship. He looked over at Inu as he remained silent and still, his expression grim and woeful.

"…W-was it really that bad?" Jaune asked in shock and horror as Inu refused to look at the boy and kept his gaze down at the two.

**"...Far Worse"** was all he said as Jaune looked down once more before looking back to the two Faunus, a new sense of understanding and respect towards their kind.

"So I left, I decided that I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress…and here I am, hiding in plain sight, all with the help of a little black bow" she said as the bow on top of her head twitched left and right. Jaune narrowed his eyes slightly at the small subtle twitches of her bow, he always felt that the bow on top of her head was too well positioned, also for the fact that at certain times he could have sworn that the bow twitched whenever a bird flew by, or someone made a loud noise in the cafeteria.

Now it all made sense to him, and he felt sad that she had to hide her true self because of people like Cardin and Weiss…it was saddening.

"So…have you told any of your friends?" Sun asked as the girl shook her head solemnly.

"No I haven't…and I don't think they would want to see me at the moment, if they knew of my past, the things I've done for the White Fang…I don't think they would ever look at me the same again…its better that they don't know" she said as Jaune shook his head from across the street. And with that simple gesture they both left the café and began to walk the streets of Vale in an awkward silence. Unaware that Jaune was following as stealthily as he could from the rooftops, Inu guiding his every step and move.

"So what now?" Sun asked Blake as they strolled along the sidewalk; Blake shook her head as she thought about it.

"I don't know, I still don't believe the White Fang are responsible for these recent Dust attacks, they never needed that much Dust before" she defended as she tried to find reason in her former organisation.

"What if they did?" Sun suddenly said as Jaune and Blake raised an eyebrow at this. "I mean the only way to prove they didn't do it, is to go to the place they would most likely do it, and not find them there…right?" he said as he pointed his fingers like a cowboy in a western.

Jaune from above rose an eyebrow at this and turned to Inu "Did you understand any of that?" he asked the spirit as he shrugged his shoulders.

**"Not one bit" **

It seemed that Blake got it but was not supportive of it "The only problem is I have no idea where they would be?" she said as Sun folded his hands behind his back.

"Well…while I was on the ship I heard the crew talking about un-hauling a huge shipment of Dust arriving from Atlas"

"How huge?"

"Huge" Sun sad as he stretched out his hands to emphasise his point "Big Shcnee Company freighter" he said as the girl leaned in.

"Are you sure?" she asked the boy as he nodded his head to the girl.

"Yep and I heard that its happening tonight at the docks just a small distance from here" he said as he pointed towards the docks. Blake set her sights there as she nodded her head and began to move past the monkey-tailed boy.

"Then lets go," she said before Sun placed a hand on her arm and stopped her.

"Wait? Aren't you going to call your friends for backup? What if they are there and you're outgunned?" he asked as the girl only shook her head at this.

"…No…they don't need to be involved…this is my fight" she said as she shook the boy off her arm and continued to walk to the dock, Sun sighed at this as he followed after the girl.

High above Jaune nodded his head as she heard their plan "So now we know where to start, guess we are heading to the docks" he then turned as Inu materialised beside him. "Think we'll find anything there?" he asked spirit as he shrugged his shoulders.

**"I don't know, but it's a start and it better then where we were before, we'll just have to see how this will play out…we better get a move on"** he said as Jaune nodded and followed after the pair.

* * *

Later that night, Vale Harbour

* * *

On top of the roof adjacent from the docks and on the other roof were two figures; one was Blake while the other was Jaune as they staked out the docks before them. The two had arrived at the docks and waited for anything out of the ordinary, so far nothing as the Dust was unloaded and then stacked along the water edge. The workers had left an hour ago and the dock was now deserted, no sign of life anywhere.

"What did I miss?" Sun said as he appeared beside the girl, his arms full with apples as she shook her head at the boy.

"Not much, they just unloaded all the crates off the boat and now they're just sitting there" she said as Sun nodded at this.

"Cool…hey I stole you some apples"

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" she asked as the boy looked at her.

"Hey weren't you part of a cult or something?" he retaliated as he received a glare from the girl. "Right too soon, sorry" he said as he sat on the roof next to her and ate some of the apples. Meanwhile across from them on the opposite roof was Jaune as he entered the wraith world to see what his human eyes could not, there was nothing but crates and containers filled with Dust.

"Its been an hour since the workers left, they already unloaded the containers and they just left…maybe they're are not coming" Jaune said as he looked at the containers marked Schnee company.

Inu appeared beside him as Jaune looked over the dock one last time before sighing and scratching the back of his head. "Maybe this lead was a dead end," he said as turned away from the dock.

**"No…something is off"** Inu said as Jaune looked back to the ghost Faunus** "Why would Dust come all the way over from Atlas and just be left right out in the middle of the open"** he said as Jaune looked at the containers again with curiosity.

"Yeah you're right, shouldn't they be placed in storage or something if they are that valuable?" Jaune said before Inu pointed something else out.

**"Another thing where are the guards? They should be posted around the dock in case of intruders…but there's no one here but us"** he said as he pointed to the empty security booths.

Jaune's eyes widened slightly at this as he realised what Inu was telling him "What the hell is going on here?" he asked Inu, but was interrupted as VTOL appeared above them blowing a large amount of dust in the air as Jaune shielded his eyes from the gust of wind.

Inu narrowed his eyes as he disappeared back inside Jaune **"Looks like we're about to find out"**

The VTOL spun around with its search lights active before it landed right in the middle of the dock as its searchlight shut off. The back and side of the large airship opened up as a metal ramp extended from the ship. From out of the ship stepped a man, wearing black boots, pants with a long sleeved black shirt with a white vest, a black hood and a metal mask that looked reminiscent of a Grimm mask.

But on the back of the white vest was something that brought a sense of dread and sorrow at the image of a red angry beast on the mans back, "Oh no…" Blake said as she stared at the red image.

"Is that them?" Sun asked as he looked at the man's back as well. She nodded and hung her head in shame at this; more men soon appeared with one of them holding a dust-powered rifle.

"Yes…that's them," she said solemnly as Sun looked over to her sympathetically.

"You really didn't think they were behind it did you?" he asked her as she shook her head.

"No…I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to be right" she said watching the men grabbing long metal cables and hooking them up to the ship.

"Hey what's the hold up?" a voice yelled out as Blake's eyes were instantly on the loud voice, she looked over and gasped at what she saw. Out of the VTOL stood a human with orange hair in a white suit jacket, black pants and wearing a bowler hat and walked with a cane.

She instantly recognised the man, Roman Torchwick, international criminal and master thief. She had seen the news report about him, and had learned more about him from Ruby when she first encountered him.

"We are not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so maybe you animals should try and pick up the pace a little" he told the crew as they rushed around quicker to get the job done.

"Something's not right…The White Fang would never work with a human, especially someone like him" she said as she drew her katana blade and dashed down the building. Sun tried to grab her but was too late as she rushed down to the docks.

Jaune on the other side of the docks also had wide eyes at the human among the human hating organization. "What the heck is he doing here? I thought the White Fang hated Humans?" he asked Inu as the wolf Faunus glared at him.

**"They do, something is defiantly not right here. Get closer and find out what's going on here"** he command as Jaune nodded and leaned over the edge of the building. Jaune the spread his arms out as he jumped off the edge and plummeted to the ground below. But as he fell his body glowed white as an image of Inu overlapped his form before he landed in a crouching position. The fall having no affect on his body as he looked back up from where he jumped to where he fell.

"I will never get over how cool that is," Jaune said as he grinned slightly.

**"Focus Jaune, we don't have a lot of time"** Inu commanded as the boy nodded and silently snuck over the fence of the dock and carefully snuck around the giant metal containers. Jaune at a distance focused Inu's powers into his eyes and ears again as he heard Roman talking to one of the lackeys.

"No it is not a leash! What the heck is wrong with you?" he said right before Blake appeared right behind him, her sword touching against his skin as he held him as a hostage. "What the? Oh for-"

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered as she pressed the blade against his neck, three of the thugs surrounded her as they pointed guns and swords to the black clad Faunus.

"Whoa easy there little lady" Roman said as he casually smirked to the girl that could slit his throat in a minute, Jaune found it odd that he was surprisingly calm about this. Blake slowly reached for her bow as she let the small ribbon fall and flutter in the air, he Faunus heritage in plain view for all. The White Fang members stared at her as she looked to them.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" she asked as the men drew back slightly from the girl.

"Ah~ kid didn't you get the memo?" Roman taunted as she pressed the blade further to his neck.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well the White Fang and I are going in on a joint business together" he said as she glared at him more.

"Tell me what it is so I can put an end to your little operation" before she could continue a large gust of wind blasted through the air, as two more sets of lights shone through the dock, looking up Roman smirked as Blake's eyes widened in shock.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a 'little' operation"

Hovering above them were two more VTOLS as they hovered directly over the first and the group, Jaune peeked out of cover as he looked up to the sky. "This isn't good, there's too many of them…I got to call the others" he pulled out his new scroll and began to text his and team RWBY.

"Hey! Who are you!" Jaune turns around as he was soon face to face with the barrel of a dust-powered gun. The thug walked closer as he nearly pressed the barrel to his face "I said who the hell are you!" he ordered again as Jaune backed up against the crate.

_'Uh Inu I could use a little help here' _

**"Ok just do what I say, exactly as I say,"** he ordered as Jaune silently nodded to the spirit, the thug was getting impatient as he pressed the gun closer to his face.

"Hey I'm talking to you! Who the hell are y-"

Before he even realised what happened, Jaune grabbed the gun and slammed the butt of the gun against his shoulder, the thug staggered back as Jaune sent a flurry of punches into the man's stomach before kicking him in the same area.

He then grabbed the man by his vest and threw him against the container, before he quickly slammed his foot into the man's face as he knocked the man unconscious.

"Ok I need a distraction…any suggestions Inu?" he asked the wolf spirit as he thought for a moment and came up with a plan. Communicating with Jaune he relayed the instructions as he nodded to the spirit. Jaune quickly climbed the containers as he summoned the bow in his hand and time once again slowed down as he aimed at the spotlight of the Bulkhead. With a pull of the string the arrow sped thought the air as the lights suddenly exploded in a rain of sparks.

The distraction was enough for the group to now turn their attention to the boy as he drew his sword from his back and faced the girl, "Blake run now!" Jaune yelled as he jumped down off the container and rushed to the group, his blade clashing with the thugs.

"Oh great! Who he heck is this?" Roman questioned as Blake stared wide-eyed at the boy before them.

"Jaune! What are you?"

"No time! Get to cover!" was all he could say as the girl instantly kicked the thief away as Roman aimed his cane at the girl and prepared to fire from his signature weapon. But as this happened Jaune faster then anyone could see, unleashed another arrow from his bow as the arrow knocked the cane off target. The rocket missed as it hit one of the containers sending the large container tumbling to the ground, spilling a large amount of Dust crystals across the ground.

Blake managed to sprint behind cover, as Roman looked annoyed at the sudden turn of events. "I really hate it when things don't go to plan" he then turned his attention to Jaune as he and the others aimed at him.

"And who the heck are you kid?" he said as Jaune grinned nervously to the armed men that surrounded him, "Not exactly bright are you?" he asked as Jaune shook his head.

"No not really"

Before he could fire a banana peel landed straight in Roman's face as Sun jumped from the crane above him and quickly deployed his weapon, a long red bo-staff and struck the man across the face as Roman quickly swing back with his weapon.

Jaune at the moment was dealing with other matters as three of the men came charging at him, swords drawn and ready to kill the boy. Jaune quickly dodged one blade as he quickly deflected the blade off his back and parried the second man's strike before he ducked under another. Soon Jaune and Sun were back to back as the men circled around them, Jaune with his sword pointed at them, and Sun with his staff.

"Hey names Sun, Sun Wukong, you one of Blake's friends?" Sun asked as he and Jaune quickly dodge a series of strikes from the men.

"Jaune, Jaune Arc and yes I'm one of Blake's friends" he said as he quickly ducked and slashed at a man that dodged his attack with ease. Only to be hit across the face by Sun's staff and then punched by Jaune's left fist.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he dodged and struck every man he could.

"Trying to look after my friend you?"

"Same thing"

The two blonds shared one look together before they nodded and continued to fight the armed thugs. Meanwhile Blake was busy fighting off against roman as he easily parried her attacks with ease and precision.

"Now you are just a bad kitty aren't you?" he taunted to the Faunus girl as she raged at the man, her blows becoming more aggressive with each strike. But Roman was stronger then he appeared as he easily evaded her moves and sent her flying back with a well placed shot to the ground beneath her as she flew over and slammed against a container.

Then suddenly he ducked as an old ancient blade nicked the corner of his hat as he backed up from the attacker.

Jaune and Sun had dealt with their trouble as they went over to help Blake, Sun went charging over to fight him as Jaune helped her get back up "You ok Blake?" he asked as the girl nodded before she shook him off her arm.

"I'm fine, what the hell are you doing here Jaune?"

"I came to find you, your friends are worried sick about you, and I sort of followed you guys," he said as Blake narrowed her eyes at him.

"How long?"

Jaune looked away nervously as he didn't look at the girl "…Since the Café" he said as Blake lowered her head at this.

"…So…you know as well then right? About my past and connection to the White Fang" she said as he nodded at her as she hung her head lower. "And now you probably know what I am now right?" she asked as once again Jaune nodded to the girl.

"You probably can't stand the sight of me now huh? For what I truly am, and All the things I've-"

"I don't care" he interrupted as she looked up in shock, the boy smiled to her as he handed her the little black bow,

"Blake what we did in our pasts is in our past, its what we do in our future that matters…besides I think your ears make you look cute" he finished as the girl got a healthy blush on her face.

She then looked up to the boy as he smiled to her with his usual slanted smile, this one action alone made her feel something she never thought of from a human…happy.

"Jaune…" she whispered as she looked into his blue eyes.

"Hey if you guys are done flirting, I COULD USE SOME HELP HERE!" Sun yelled out as another explosion rocked the dock. The pair turned back to see Sun running around in a circle as Roman shot more rockets from his cane.

"Oh Shit! Sorry Sun!" Jaune yelled as he charged toward the criminal and swung his sword at the man. Roman clicked his teeth in annoyance as Jaune went in for another strike, only to have it parried away by the man.

"You kids are really starting to get on my nerves!" he yelled out but then ducked as Blake came sailing over his head as both blades missed him by an inch. Blake sped around the man as each strike she made left an after image of herself in her place.

Sun used his nunchaku-shotguns in close-quarters with the man as he directed off each blast with a simple nudged or shove with his cane. This proved that he was on a whole different level then the three teens before him. Roman had enough as he blasted the ground beneath him as Sun and Blake were sent flying back. Jaune managed to stay put as Inu told him to stab the blade into the ground to anchor him in place.

Jaune glared up at the man as he charged for as his blade locked on the mans cane, small sparks shot of from contact as Roman grinned slightly at the boy, "You got guts kid, I'll give you that" he said as Jaune only glared as his eyes flashed blue for a brief moment.

This was enough to stun the man as he reached over with his left hand and drew forth the broken blade from his back and slashed at the man's face, only making a small cut upon the man's cheek. Roman grunted in pain as he kicked Jaune in the stomach and sent him flying back into a container. He placed his hand on his cheek and then looked at the blood that dabbled his fingertips.

"Now that was just rude Blondie" he said as Jaune only glared at the man as he held both blades to the man, his family sword in his right and the broken blade in his left as he held it in front of his body in a reverse grip.

Roman's eyes narrowed at the broken blade as he then glared at the boy before him, "Hey kid, where did you get that blade?" he asked as Jaune only tightened his grip on the blade.

"What's it to you where I got it" he said as a rare look of anger crossed the man's face.

"Because you disrespectful twerp that blade happened to belonged to a very dear friend of mine"

"Funny I could say the same thing," Jaune taunted as the Roman glared at the man before him.

"...Amusing" Roman, said as Jaune only set a stone like expression on his face as the two circled each of waiting for the other to make the first move…only something else happened.

"Hey!"

A young voice yelled out that Jaune knew all too well, the two turned their heads up to the warehouse at the far end of the dock, and lo and behold there stood Ruby as she deployed Crescent Rose in its massive scythe form.

"Hey Red, long time no see, isn't it past your bedtime" Roman called out to the girl as she glared at the international criminal.

"RUBY!" Jaune yelled out in surprise, "What the actually heck!" he yelled as her eyes widened slightly at Jaune.

"Jaune! What are you doing here?" Ruby asked as Penny came up alongside her and soon saw Jaune. A huge smile came onto her face as she waved at him.

"Hello Boyfriend" she waved as Jaune sighed at this, Sun was confused as he looked at Jaune from the ground he laid on, he raised a quizzing eyebrow at the boy hoping for an explanation.

"Boyfriend?"

"Long story"

Penny on the other hand looked to Roman as a look of confusion set upon her face "Ruby? Are these your friends?" she asked as Ruby turned her head to face the orange haired girl.

"Penny get back" she said as Roman smirked and quickly aimed his cane at the girl and fired, Jaune barely had time to react before he saw the rocket soaring towards his friend.

"RUBY! LOOK OUT!"

He yelled all too late as the rocket smacked her dead center of her chest, her Aura shielded her from the blast but still sent her flying as she skidded across the roof before falling unconscious. Rage coursed through Jaune as Inu's power flared for a brief moment, engulfing his eyes in deep blue flames.

**"NO!"** Jaune yelled as he set his burning blue eyes on Roman and charged at the man while raging like a beast, Roman narrowly dodged as the sword cut deeply into a container, leaving a large gash in the metal. Fuelled by rage and anger he continued to blindly attack the man who was now having a hard time fighting back against the boy.

_'What the heck is wrong with this kid? Where did he get an increase in power?'_ he thought to him as he desperately tried to stay alive. Blake managed to look up as she once again saw the same burning blue eye's that frightened Weiss the other day.

"…Jaune?" she whispered as the boy only continued to attack the man in a blind rage, Roman docked and dodged the incoming blade attacks as he only caught glimpse's of the terrifying burning blue eyes.

"You have a lot of anger kid!" he said as he quickly slapped the boy across the face with his cane and then pointed it at his chest and fired. The boy then went flying away as he slammed painfully against the metal containers.

"But not enough control" he said coolly as he reloaded his weapon.

"JAUNE!" Blake yelled as the boy slumped to the ground, his hand went to his chest as he looked down to see the large burn mark on his chest plate that had saved his life, he was so glad that he brought a new chest plate.

Penny who watched for too long decided that enough was enough as she glared at the orange haired man. She then began to walk over to the edged just as Ruby regained consciousness.

"Penny wait! Stop!" Ruby said as the girl only stopped at the edge of the roof as she turned her head to face Ruby.

"Don't worry Ruby…" she then turned her head back to the fight as she set her eyes on the thugs. "I'm combat ready!" she proclaimed as the glared at the men.

Suddenly her backpack opened up as a small blade floated behind her before extending and a row of blades appeared floating behind the girl, she then jumped off the roof and shot three of the blades forward. Two of the men were hit as they tumbled to the ground unconscious, before she landed on the ground as the blades twirled and spun in unison behind her back. She then thrust her arms to the right as the blades spun at her command, knocking one of the thugs away.

She then swung them to the left as the blades spun and latched onto the second man and sent him flying into a container, rendering out cold and out of the fight. Two men tired to attacked as she easily despatched them in an amazing display, as the blades swarmed around her body, like water. She then commanded the blades to form a giant spinning blade as she launched it at the charging men, knocking all of them over as they hit the ground unconscious.

"Whoa!" was all Sun could say before he looked up to see three more VTOL's flying towards the girl as they opened fire with the machine guns. Penny commanded the blades to spin in front of her as the blades shielded her from the barrage of bullets.

She then launched two of her blades from her back as they latched onto the warehouse far from from the battle, thin invisible like wires could barely be seen as they pulled her away from gunships, the blades then formed a circle in front of her, as the blades shifted into an array like design as the pointed ends retraced and the handles angled themselves like guns.

She held her hands forwards as the blades began to spin around very fast as a ball of green energy formed in the middle of the circle. She pulled her arms back before thrusting them forward as two giant beams of energy fired from the array.

The beams of energy cut two of the ships in half, dropping the crew onto the ground, and causing the ships to crash into the water as a huge geyser of water shot up into the air. Penny then noticed one of the ships attempting to escape with a container full of dust.

She would have none of that as she sent several of her blades to the ship, as they impaled into the side of the vessel. Several more wires could be partially seen as the girl began to slowly walk away from the ship, the ship to everyone else looked as though she was pulling it down by herself.

"Whoa…how is she doing that?" Ruby asked herself as Penny smirked one last time before with a final pull the VTOL was pulled from the sky, and crashed right into the harbour.

"This doesn't look good, I think its time I split" Roman said as he began to turn away from the fight, Until Jaune tackled him to the ground and sent punch after punch to the man but the man blocked each and ever one of them. But just as Jaune went in for another punch he missed and the palm of his left hand grasped the man's head.

Suddenly something strange happened as the scar on Jaune's hand glowed as his hand was engulfed in a blue flame.

The Thief's eyes soon glowed blue as strange images began to flood Jaune's mind, images that confused him as he instantly let go of the man.

Jaune looked down as his the scar on his hand glowed and then subsided as Inu appeared before him. **"Jaune get back and do it again!"** Jaune looked the spirit **"I could see into his mind, there is something else going on here, but I need to see into his mind"** Jaune nodded as he placed his hand on his head as once again, and again he felt something happen as images flashed into his mind.

* * *

_Roman was standing in a bar, as he appeared to be talking to a man, the man had black short hair with a short beard and wore long sleeve white shirt, a black vest and trousers with a red tie around his neck._

_"Junior I need information and you are the best guy I know who can find it…" Roman said as he handed the man a picture. The picture was of a man with black hair and amber coloured eyes, His hair was cleanly cut and he had noticeable sideburns, along with hairy, muscular arms. He wore a short-sleeved beige shirt with black accents with a zipper on it, pulled down to a point below his collarbone. Beneath this, he wore a white undershirt. _

_"And why do you need to find this particular gentlemen Roman?" he asked as the man with the bowler hat shrugged his shoulders._

_"Personal business my friend, can't say more...but it comes from a certain 'Fiery maiden' if you catch my drift" he said as the man's eyes widened at this, __Junior nodded as he folded the picture into his vest and whispered into the man's ear._

_"Come back in two days time, I'll have his location by then" he said as Roman smirked to the man._

_"Pleasure doing business with you as always Junior, now if you excuse me I have another job I need to do tonight…a large one at that" he said as the memory faded and went black._

* * *

Jaune gasped slightly as his hand shot of Roman's head as the man stared wide eyed at the boy, before he growled and shoved him off with his cane, the man looked at the boy and the strange blue glow off his hand, before Jaune hid it in his cloak.

"Well that was…odd" Roman said as he then decided it was best that he made his leave, he had enough weirdness for one night, plus the mission was a failure, but just as he was about to leave Blake came charging at him as she swiped at him with her Gambol Shroud.

The blade nicked his side pocket as a small silver object fell from its place, and landed right at Sun's feet, he tried to retrieve it before he heard the sound of sirens in the distance and growled in annoyance. Roman grew annoyed as he fired one last rocket at the girl as she too was sent flying away, but was caught by Jaune as they both tumbled back and landed against the metal container, Jaune cushioning her as he impacted into the container.

"These kids just keep getting weirder…especially that kid" Roman said as he managed to get to the last VTOL and closed the door behind him, the shuttle then took off as it blasted into the sky followed closely by a second Bulkhead from behind until they were long gone.

Jaune sighed as he looked to the girl in his lap "You ok Blake?" he asked as the girl nodded at this from the comfort of his lap.

"Yeah…thanks Jaune," she said with a slight blush on her face, the sound of sirens could be heard as the two looked towards the oncoming police, the police surrounded the area quickly and arrested the White Fang members.

"Where were they when we needed them earlier?" Jaune asked as Inu only nodded in agreement.

After a short time later, the five teens were seated around each other as they waited for the cops to sort out the mess at the docks, none of them spoke as they were adjusting to the battle that could have claimed their lives, except for Jaune as he was playing with the broken blade in his hands, Roman's words still ringing in his mind.

_"Because you disrespectful twerp that blade happened to belonged to a very dear friend of mine"_

_'Inu…have you ever met that man before?' _he asked the spirit as Inu shook his head.

**"I cannot say, my memories are still blurred and blocked, if I had met him it must have been a long time ago…he does ring a bell somehow…this raises more questions" **Said the spirit as Jaune only sighed and sheathed the blade back into its slot, it was something he would have to deal with later.

But he then noticed that Yang and Weiss were walking towards them, Weiss with a practically unhappy look on her face, as if she ever was happy to begin with. Ruby noticed as she got up off the crate and tried to talk to her.

"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..." Ruby spoke quickly as Weiss ignored her and walked in front of Blake.

The two stared at each other in silence as both of the waited for the other to speak, finally it was Blake who broke the ice, or the Weiss if you were Yang making a pun…shudder.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" she pauses before she then spoke again "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided...", The group around them held their breaths as they waited for her response, if her response would be negative or positive.

"I don't care," she said, as the others were actually shocked to hear that coming from the white haired heiress.

"Y-You don't care?" Blake asked as she thought her Faunus ears were playing tricks on her, Jaune and Inu too as they slightly looked at each other, they turned their attention back to the back to the two as they listened in.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asked as Blake nodded at this

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it, All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up...you'll come to your teammates, and not some...someone else or -!-" Her voice was caught in her throat as she finally noticed Jaune.

"Jaune!?" she yelped in surprise as he grinned to the girl and waved to the two who had finally noticed him.

"Hey snow angel, Hey Yang" the boy grinned as he waved to the two; Inu palmed his face at embarrassing display from the boy.

"What are you doing here!?" Yang asked as the boy chuckled nervously at the girl.

"Well I was in town and I sort of spotted Blake at a local café and kind of followed her here, I would have contacted you guys but…this sort of happened"

He smiled at the girls as he did his best at lying to them, he could lie about his transcripts he could lie about anything. Weiss was not entirely convinced as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"But how did you find her? We spent the last twelve hours trying to find her with little success, so how did you manage to accomplish what we could not?" she question again as Jaune stiffened at this.

"Uh…"

_'Inu a little help here?'_ he communicated to the spirit, the spirit manifested beside him as he shrugged his shoulders.

**"Don't look at me for all your answers Jaune"** he told the boy as Jaune sighed at this, he honestly couldn't figure out how to explain how he found Blake in the first place; he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Does it matter?"

Ruby spoke as they all turned their attention to the small red wearing girl, she smiled as she gestured to Blake and Jaune, "We don't know how Jaune found Blake, or why he went looking for her"

"But he found her none the less and he helped her like a friend should, so we should all just be happy that team RWBY is back together again" she said innocently as the rest stared at the girl for a brief moment, before smiling at the Scythe user.

"I suppose your right…thank you Jaune, for finding our friend" Weiss said as she nodded to the boy.

"Anytime Weiss, she is a friend after all" he said as Blake smiled softly this time, a small blush on her face that went unnoticed by all, except Yang. She grinned slightly at this as she crossed her arms at this.

"Hey…where's Penny" Ruby asked as she noticed that the orange haired girl had disappeared from their sights, while a short distance away said girl was driving away as a man was spoke to the girl.

"…Penny?" Ruby said solemnly before she felt a hand on her shoulder as Jaune smiled warmly to the girl.

"Relax Ruby, I'm sure she'll be fine, did you see what she did to the Bulkheads? she'll be just fine" he said unaware of the grey car that was retreating far away from the group. The car soon disappeared as Penny watched her friends slowly disappear in the distance, Sun on the other hand remembered something as he fished around in his pocket.

"By the way" he said as he grabbed their attention "While we were fighting, that Torchwick guy dropped this" he said as he held up a small silver medallion. The medallion was old and worn, with small scratches littering the surface, "Think it might be important?" he asked as he flipped the medallion in his hand.

"Give it here" Blake asked as he flipped the medallion to the girl, the girl grasped the medallion in her hand as she ran her fingers over the old faded symbol on the face.

"This looks really old, and has the old symbol of the White Fang on it…before the new leadership, what was Torchwick doing with something like this?", The girl examined the small medallion as she flipped it from side to side as she examined the old craftsmanship, the image of the old White Fang engraved on its surface.

"Looks hand made…I doubt Roman made this"

"Can I have a look?" Jaune asked as he held his hand out to the girl, the girl nodded as she handed the medallion to the boy, Inu's eyes widened at this as soon as the medallion was in his hands.

**"JAUNE DROP IT!"** he screamed all too late as the boy looked confused at the spirit, then suddenly his hand and the medallion began to glow as the others backed off in shock as the glow circulated around his arm as he screamed in pain.

And just like the dagger in the forest, strange images began to form in his mind, his body collapsing on the floor as his friends screamed his name.

"JAUNE!"

* * *

_A young boy of twelve years old with short black hair and wolf like ears on his head sat mindlessly in the old abandoned house as he played with the small silver medallion in his hands. The boy stared longingly at the image of a peaceful wolf encumbered by a white circle, the boy sighed with a hint of sadness in his voice as he held the medallion closely._

_Suddenly the sound of footsteps were heard behind him as the boy turned to see another boy, the same age as him, but covered with a hood walked over to him, his arms filled with apples._

_"Hey Inu, I got us breakfast," the strange boy said as he placed the apples in the middle of the floor, the Faunus boy looked at the apples, before he looked back to the boy already eating one of the apples._

_"You stole these didn't you?" he asked as the boy smirked at this._

_"Stealing is such a harsh word my friend, I prefer the term…liberate" he said as he dramatically held his hands out, "Besides that food vendor was hoarding most of them anyway, he wont miss a few" _

_"But it's still wrong to steal"_

_"No my friend what's wrong, is allowing two small orphans to be starving in the middle of the street, with nowhere else to go" the boy said as he moved over to sit next to the Faunus._

_"Besides, we need to survive in this harsh world, what with that orphanage kicking you out for being…well you know" he gestured to the ears on his head as the boy lowered them slightly._

_"And me because I defended you…this world is cold and cruel, and we need to stick together, as Orphan should" he said as Inu smiled softly to the boy._

_"Hey…" he said as the boy looked to him "Do you think things will get better?" the boy asked as the kid raised an eyebrow at this._

_"Of course it will my friend, one day we wont be living in dumps like this" he gestured to the room, "Or stealing food to survive" he gestured to the apples. "You and me buddy, we are going to change the world, I know it" he smiled toothily to the boy._

_"…Yeah, yeah you're right, thanks Roman," he said as the boy removed his hood to reveal deep green eyes and orange hair parted to one side of his head._

_"Any time kid…anytime"_

* * *

"Jaune! Jaune! Wake up!" Ruby yelled as she shook the boy, as he lay unconscious on the ground, she was worried and scared, as she feared for the life of her friend.

"What the heck happened? Why did it do that to him!" Yang said as she was beside the boy as well, something strange had happened when Blake had handed him the medallion, his whole arm began to glow and he had screamed out in pain before collapsing.

"I don't know, but he is not breathing!" Blake said as she placed her ears next to his chest.

"What did you do!?" Weiss accused the blond Faunus he raised his hands in the air.

"Hey don't look at me! It's not my fault! I didn't think it would do this to him!" Sun said as he gestured to the unconscious boy.

"This is no time to blame him Weiss! Jaune needs help and he needs it now!" Ruby in a rare show of anger, castrated the girl for her previous outburst at the girl.

"We need to call an ambulance," Blake said, as she was about to call one of the officers over, when suddenly Jaune took in a massive breath as he shot straight up off the ground.

"Jaune!" the group yelled out in shock, Jaune coughed and wheezed as air rushed into his oxygen-deprived lungs.

"Jaune! Are you ok! What the heck happened!?" Ruby frantically asked as the boy shook his head to clear the migraine that was forming.

"I-I don't know…I-I must have triggered some sort of defence on the object" he tired to explain as he slowly began to get up off the ground, with Yang and Ruby's help.

"By why did it happen to you and not Sun or me?" Blake asked as she helped the boy over to a crate.

"I don't know? Magic maybe? Look I'm fine honest…I just have a bit of a headache ok"

"Ok? Jaune you stopped breathing for a minute, you could have died" Blake said as she looked at the item that had caused the group to panic.

"Yeah but I'm fine, honest…I'm fine" he said as he drifted off, the memory still burned into his mind, the younger Inu and Roman, being friends long ago. His friends looked at him worryingly as he seemed to drift off in thought, each sending each other a concerned and worried looks. While Inu and Jaune only looked confused and puzzled by the turn of events, and realised that they had only just began to uncover something else, something larger then they ever could possibly imagine, they had no idea what they were in for.

Ozpin from the comfort of his office frowned as he watched the events unfold from the safety of his school, he narrowed his eyes at the blond haired boy as he saw the strange flash of light from the boy, the scene he saw on his scroll confirmed his fears. Suddenly a message appeared on his scroll as the message was addressed from his friend Qrow.

The message only read 'Queen has Pawns' as the man placed his scroll on the table as a serious look came upon his face, his eyes drifting over to the old worn book to his left as he sighed, before saying to himself.

"And so it begins…a new Gravewalker has risen…god help us all"

* * *

**It's a sad day when we lose someone who brought so much joy and wonder to our bleak and otherwise sad world. And while Monty Oum, a great man who was taken from us too soon, he will live on in all of us, as family, friends and fans.**

**He inspired people to create, to dream and to hope. His light will never be extinguished, only passed on in all of us. R.I.P Monty Oum may you forever be a Shining Beacon in the Remnants of our world.**

**Monty Oum (1981-2015)**


	4. Chapter IV: Shadow's of the Underground

RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death, cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark. A curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be saved. You have been chose to save it from the ambition of a mad woman, and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

* * *

Chapter IV: Shadows of the Underground

* * *

Jaune stared blankly at the warm cup of liquid, which the officers had kindly placed in front of him. He had no intention of drinking the warm drink as he continued to stare at his reflection in the smooth surface of the metal table. It had been over an hour since Jaune and team RWBY had been brought over to the Vale Police Department. Sun had taken his chance leave when the authorities arrived and split.

Although he did promise to meet up with the teens later on in the coming weeks during the Vytal Festival, also because he had to return to his team, that he ditched at Haven Academy.

Until then he was long gone.

When they arrived at the Station, the cops had drilled the boy and his friends with questions on what they were doing at the docks and any information about Roman and his gang. Jaune couldn't tell what the others had said to the officers, since they separated the teens to stop them from collaborating a story. But from what Inu could learn shadowing the girls, Ruby and Blake told the officers that they had stumbled across the robbery in progress and attempted to apprehend them, as part of being hunters in training.

While the police tolerated the academy allowing their students to engage in local enforcement, it didn't stop the officers from openly objecting to having 'kids' interfere in on going investigations.

So Jaune only repeated what Inu told him to say and they managed to get off with only a slight slap on the wrist. But for some reason while everyone else was allowed to leave, he was instructed to stay behind and wait for someone else to speak with him.

Jaune's eyes darted around the room as he looked at the large mirror like window that reflected his image. He had seen enough movies and TV shows to know that it was a one-way mirror.

_'Why do you think they asked us to stay behind Inu? Do they think we know something we're not telling them?'_

**"I don't know Jaune, other then the fact that at some point in my life I had once know Roman and was his friend…but there is no way these incompetent fools know this" **He said this as he saw through the walls the two detectives pretending to fire imaginary guns at each other. Inu shook his head at this; this was clearly a disappointment to law enforcement everywhere.

The sound of the door opening brought them back to the real world as Jaune and Inu were slightly surprised to see Ozpin standing at the doorway. The man smiled slightly at the boy as he closed the door and tapped his cane against the glass.

A light turned on in the next room, as the two detectives stopped their trivial game and left the room. The man then casually strolled over, until he took his seat opposite of the boy and placed his coffee down on the table.

"This conversation is not being recorded, all electronic surveillance has been disabled and the two officers charged with observing you have been relived of duty…nothing leaves this room mister Arc." A brief moment of silence greeted the two, three if Ozpin could see Inu, as neither one was willing to start the conversation. It wasn't until Jaune coughed into his hand that the man decided to speak.

"You seemed to have gotten yourself into some trouble recently mister Arc? Picking a fight with an international criminal, fighting a rouge terrorist group alongside those not of your own team…" The man leaned forward as he laced his fingers in his own as his eyes studied the boy before him.

"It's not like you to act this way and it has caused me some concern…is there something you're not telling us?" Jaune remained silent as he looked away from the man to stare out at the large window.

The man sighed at this as he leaned back slightly in his seat "Its amusing actually, but I had a discussion similar to this one with Miss Belladonna regarding her…heritage." Jaune stiffened slightly at this as he clenched his knuckles tightly. He could feel the spirit of Inu flinch at the words as he now glared at the silver haired man.

"And she told me her reason for choosing to hide her true self. But that is her decision, you however have yet to make that choice mister Arc." He then leaned back as he looked at the boy.

"…I know about your transcripts" Jaune snapped his head to the man as a shot of dread reached his heart. The man only shook his head at his stunned expression.

"And relax, I would not have let you into my Academy unless I had a good reason for you to stay. But recent events have caused me some concern. Your disappearance into the Forever Falls, your strange behaviour with your friends and teammates…even your new skill set"

He then produced his scroll as he showed the boy the battle at the dock, he watched as the Jaune on the screen attacked the highly trained men with ease and skill, that the boy did not have a month ago. He then also showed the strange bow and arrow that manifested in the boy's hand and watched as it blew the light out of one of the bulkheads.

"And I'm quite frankly concerned about you mister Arc, as I would with all my students…are you sure there is nothing you wish to tell me?" Jaune only remained silent as turned his head back to the window. Ozpin only sighed at this as he pocketed his scroll and raised himself from the chair.

"Very well if you do not wish to tell me Mister Arc I will respect your wishes…but take into heed young man, 'secrets kept from friends can end them'. If you ever need to talk, my door is always open."

And with that the man disappeared leaving the boy alone with his thoughts, or more accurately the thought of himself and Inu. The spirit manifested beside the boy as he stared out at the moon.

**"He knows something, I think he may be on to us"**

_'How is that even possible? I thought you said it would be hard to prove your existence?'_

**"I did, but like I also said before 'not to my knowledge' and most of what I know perished when I died…It would seem we need to find more of these relics, in order for me to regain my memory." **Jaune sighed at this as he crossed his arms over his head, as he smacked his head against the metal table.

"So I guess that means we are back to square one then right?" Inu shook his head as he brought up an astral version of the amulet they retrieved from Roman.

**"Not entirely, we have a start with this childhood memory of mine. And the memory we retrieved from Roman, and the about the man he seeks."** The sprit concentrated as it recalled the memory from Roman's head.

**"We need to find him, before Roman gets to him first. He may be the key to restoring more of my memories"** Jaune nodded at this as he cast his gaze to the two-way mirror.

_'Then we better know where to find it; Roman said the man's name was Junior and the memory showed him in a club of some sort. Guess we need to check out every night club until we find him huh?'_ Inu shrugged his shoulders before he disappeared.

**"Its worth a look"** and like that Jaune was left to himself as he waited in the interrogation room. It wasn't long until the officers let him go that he was immediately met with Team RWBY, who was waiting for him outside the station.

"Jaune! Are you alright?" Ruby said as she ran over to the boy, he nodded as he was soon surrounded by team RWBY.

"Yeah I'm fine, the police just had a few more question to ask me, it was standard procedure they said"

"What did you tell them?" Weiss asked, "I mean they didn't really ask any of us to stay back, so what was so special about you?" she asked curious about the boy's behaviour.

"That's not true, I was asked to stay back as well Weiss" Blake said, knowing full well who had spoken to Jaune. "They just wanted to ask the ones who were actually there a few more questions, like he said it was standard procedure." Jaune looked at the Faunus in disguise as he smiled at her.

Jaune would admit that hadn't really gotten to know Blake a lot since joining Beacon, seeing as the girl normally kept to herself. But this whole event with the White fang and Inu's mysterious past, made him understand her a little bit more...not everything, but it was a start.

"Well we probably shouldn't be hanging around anymore then we need to. We do have a curfew to get to and I don't want Ms. Goodwitch to assign us Detention…again" Jaune said as he remembered the blond teachers, rather strict personality. Ruby shivered up at this, as she too also remembered the teacher's strict personality.

"Y-yeah I don't want to be yelled at by Miss Goodwitch again." It didn't take long for the five students to make it back to Beacon, thanks to the speedy assistance of Beacon's personal shuttles. They finally arrived back at Beacon as the five began to walk down the hall leading to their dormitory, when something just accord to Ruby.

"Hey Jaune?"

"Yes Ruby?" Jaune asked the small huntress.

"You did let your team know you were at the Police station? Didn't you?" Jaune instantly flinched at this as he heard that.

_'Oh crap! I completely forgot all about them! I practically left without telling them where I was going!'_ Jaune panicked as he thought about his team.

Ever since he had returned from the Forever Falls, he noticed that his team had begun to act…differently around him. His team would constantly follow him around Beacon, even if they had other classes to attend to. They also seemed to ward off anyone they thought would be a threat to Jaune. Not to mention how Pyrrha seemed to be more hesitant around him whenever they trained.

He could understand that they were worried about him, but seriously, it was getting too much for him. They treated him like he was a fine china plate, then a human being.

"Uhh~ No, no I didn't Ruby" Jaune said in a slightly nervous voice. "All I told them was that I was going into town for a little while. I didn't expect all this to happen," he said as he gestured to before.

"Ohh~ someone's going to be in trouble" Yang mocked just as they began to reach their dorms. "Especially if Pyrrha finds out that you got shot by a rocket" Yang chuckled as Jaune shot her a disgruntled look. But before he could get a chance to rebut the girl. He dorm room door suddenly burst off its hinges and landed right on top of him.

"Gah!" was all he got to scream as he has knocked under the door, the culprit being one Nora Valkyrie. As she stood on top of the door, looking slightly like a maniac. Behind her was he fellow teammates as they came bursting out as well.

"What! A rocket shot Jauney!? Who did it! They will never see the light of day when I'm done with them!" Nora yelled out as she somehow managed to have Magnhild in her hands.

"Calm down Nora" Ren said calmly as he managed to calm her down, by grabbing her around the waist and dragging her off the door.

"What was that about Jaune getting hurt? Where is he? Where's Jaune!?" Pyrrha asked as team RWBY just started in shock. Right before they simultaneously pointed downwards, as Pyrrha followed their direction and her eyes soon widened at what was under her.

There was her partner, and secret crush, lying under the heavy door as small stars could be seen spinning around his head. There was also the fact that she was now standing on the door, slowly crushing the boy to bits. Pyrrha then realised what she just did as she bent down and picked up, the now unconscious boy.

"Jaune! Oh My Gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Speak to me!" Jaune on the other hand, was seeing double of everything as he lay on the floor. Inu manifested beside Jaune as he kneeled down next to the boy.

**"You know the more I get to know you, the more I'm beginning to think you might be a masochist or something?"** Jaune turned his head to glared at the spirit.

_'Not funny Inu!'_

* * *

A little while later, Jaune and the rest of his friends managed to head back to team JNPRs dorm. In this time Jaune was able to explain to his friends where he was, minus the parts about him collapsing from the medallion.

"I see, so you were just looking out for Blake? Then why didn't you ask any of us to help?" Pyrrha asked as the boy nodded.

"Well I kind of felt bad that I didn't try to stop her when she left yesterday. And I really hate it when my friends are fighting amongst themselves, so I tired to follow her. I would have called you guys for help, but things kind of escalated that I couldn't call for help."

Nora and Pyrrha nodded as they accepted his answer. Ren on the other hand wasn't as convinced as he stared at Jaune. Lately he had began to notice that his friend acting different.

Growing up with Nora, he was able to pick up on the subtle things that others missed. He had become an expert in reading a person, when they were not looking. And he had noticed at certain times when Jaune acted strange.

How he would turn his head slightly when no one was looking. Or how he seemed to be lost in his own world, completely ignoring everyone around him. Then there was the most obvious incident with Weiss.

Since Jaune had joined Beacon, he had known that Jaune was love stricken with the white haired heiress. How he would always try and win some small affection from the girl in white, as the girl would just turn him down and he would accept it. But the sudden display of anger that the boy showed to the girl, because of her view on the White Fang, was highly unusual indeed.

He had openly displayed pure anger at the girl and dare he even say...hatred?

He had also caught him reaching for his sword, before Pyrrha had broken him out of his rage. He knew Jaune enough to know that he wasn't the type to easily get angry. But what he saw was not Jaune; more like someone else was at the controls.

And it frightened him to no end.

Something had happened to him in the forest, something that had changed him from the boy everyone knew. He didn't know what it was, or how it would affect the team. But he was willing to wait until Jaune was ready to tell them himself. He had that much faith in him at least.

"But what I don't understand? is how did you guys get involved with a fight with the White Fang?" Nora asked absent-mindedly. RWY and Jaune slightly flinched as they shot a concerned look.

"Yes, I was wondering about that myself?" Pyrrha asked as four of the five people involved looked between them, mentally debating whether or not to tell them about Blake's Faunus identity.

"We were there because of my past" Caught by surprise at this, Blake quickly pulled at the ribbon and took off her bow as she revealed the cat like ears on her head. RWY and Jaune looked on in shock, as she showed them her secret.

"No one knows this, but I was once apart of the White Fang, until I left them three years ago…" she looked down as she hung her head in shame. "I had heard from Sun that the White Fang was planning to hijack dust from the Schnee Company…" she sighed as she told them her tale.

"I didn't want to believe it was them, but I needed to find out if it was and settle the matter personally…I'm not proud of the things I've done for them, or the things they did in the name of all Faunus." She clenched her fist as she glared at the memory of her mentor.

"But I refuse to believe that the organization I once worked for, would ever sink so low as to work with criminals like Roman! And I'm not going to stop until I find out what's really going on!" she relaxed as she looked to the three other members in the room.

"That's why I was at the docks, and why I hid my identity…I'm sorry that I lied to all, but there was no way any of you could accept me for the things I've done...or for what I am" She said as she hung her head in shame. But was surprised however when she felt a hand on her shoulder as she turned around to see Jaune, smiling at her.

"Blake do you remember what I said before at the docks? I didn't care about who you were in the past or what you are, all I care about is who you are now." He then looked in the direction of his team.

"And I'm pretty sure they fell the same way" Blake in shock, looked back to see the rest of team JNPR, smiling at her. Faces full of understanding and acceptance of who she was.

"If Jaune says that, then we feel the same way too, we are not prejudice for other because of what they are" Pyrrha said with a smile as the others nodded.

"We all have things we'd rather leave in the past, we all have secrets too. Its how we deal with them now, that really matters" Ren said in a sage like wisdom.

"Yeah! Plus I think kitty Blake looks adorable!" Nora proclaimed loudly with her hands in the air. Blake could only look back in shock as small tears brimmed at the corner of her eyes. Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder, as she made the girl look at her.

"We're friends Blake, we don't care about trivial things like that. We care about you as a person." Ruby said as her sister wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, plus you and I are partners. We stick together no matter what!" Yang said as she grinned at the girl. Weiss then stepped in front of her, as she looked indifferent.

"And I already said that I don't care anymore. But just remember that we're friends now. And that means no more secrets, got it?" Blake could only stare at the group, as tears started to streak down her face.

In the longest time she had never felt this way before. Every human she had ever met, had treated her with distain and disgust. It made her think that all humans were the same, and drove her into the arms of the White Fang. But here standing before her, was a group of humans that loved her for who she was.

Who accepted her for her heritage and the life she used to live. She then looked up, as the tears fell from her eyes.

"Thank you…thank you everyone"

The rest smiled as they comforted the girl. Meanwhile Inu manifested beside Jaune as he looked at the display. A strange feeling griped his chest, as he found something touching the scene. He then turned his head as he looked out the window.

**"I guess this shows that not all humans are as bad as I had assumed..."** was all he said as Jaune only smiled softly. **"But we are wasting time, the enemy is still out there and we have no idea where that person is." **As usual Inu had to be the voice of reason, as the once happy mood was killed for Jaune, as he glared at the spirit. Ren noticed Jaune's sudden change, as he narrowed his eyes at the others hadn't noticed as Yang perked up.

"Hey I know, why don't we celebrate the return of team RWBY by going out to a club tomorrow. I know a great club we can go to." Weiss scoffed at this as she crossed her arms.

"Please, I would not want to be seen at any club 'you' have been to."

"Aw~ don't be like that Tsundere-Princess-"

"TSUNDERE PRINCESS!" Weiss screamed.

"-Not all my clubs are bad. Like Juniors club for example, sure they try to kill me from time to time, but its still one of the best clubs to go to" The others weren't so sure what to think. The fact that there was a club that tried to kill Yang multiple times, or the fact that she keeps going to that club?

Jaune on the other hand perked up as he heard that name. _'Junior? Isn't that the same man that we saw in Roman's memories?'_ Jaune communicated to Inu. The spirit nodded as he glared at the thought.

**"He must be the owner of the club we saw in the vision. He seems to be a well-informed information broker, if Roman went to him for help."** He then looked up as he stared at Yang.

**"We need to check that club out, as soon as possible. There must be a lead to finding the one who killed me there"** Jaune nodded as he returned to the others. Mentally he was thinking of how to get the information from Yang, without raising suspensions.

He could either what till she was asleep and use his powers to steal the info from her mind. But the chances of someone like him sneaking up on Yang were slim to none. If he said he wanted to go to the club by himself, the others might well follow him and question him until he revealed his dark secret. His only chance was to use his trump card; man was he going to regret it later.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea Yang, we should go and celebrate" the others looked at Jaune, a slight look of surprise on their faces at the boy.

"Really? You want to go to a club? Didn't think you were the type Jauney-boy" Yang said as she grinned at the boy.

"Yeah well…let's just say, I got some pretty good moves on the dance floor." Yang then chuckled before she burst out laughing. A sullen mood overtook Jaune, as he watched the girl laughing at him "…Somehow I feel like that was a blow to my pride?"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude by it. But based on how I've seen you fight, I'd be surprised if you could dance at all" a small glint appeared in Jaune's eyes, as he grinned at the girl.

"Oh you'd be very surprised Goldie-locks. Back home, I was known as 'Footloose Jaune' because of my moves." Yang then grinned as she leaned forward.

"Oh? Is that a challenge Vomit boy?"

"Yes, yes it is Goldie-Locks, unless you're afraid?"

"Me, Afraid of you? Ha! Fat chance Arc! But fine, if that's the way you want it, we'll settle this on the dance floor"

"Sure just tell me the place and when" Jaune grinned as waved his scroll in her face, as the girl quickly snatched his scroll and wrote down the address of the club.

"Friday, Junior's club, at the corner of the warehouse and red-light district. Be there and bring you're A-game Arc"

"Always do Yang, always do"

As this was happening, the others could only stare, stupefied of what they saw. "Um…what the heck just happened?" Ruby asked no one in particular.

"I have no idea Ruby? But from what I can gather, it's a showdown between two dunces" she explained, while Pyrrha could only chuckle nervously.

"Wooo~ yeah! Showdown of the blond-kind!" Nora yelled as she waved her hands in the air. "Place your bets, place your bets! Who will emerge victories? Will it be the fearless leader of team JNPR? Or will it be the dynamic blond bomber, with the big guns? All bets are on-humph!" she was soon silenced as Ren grabbed her, and placed his hand over her mouth.

"Sorry about that, she gets a little too excited from time to time," he said calmly as he dragged the girl over to her bed.

"Well I think we've stayed up long enough. We'll go back to our room" Ruby said as she and her team left. It wasn't long after did the others fall asleep.

All save for Jaune as he communicated with Inu **"You're challenging her to a dance off, when we need to be finding the club? What was the point of all that?"** Jaune only smirked as he pulled up his scroll.

_'Because, now we have the address to the club, right here in my scroll'_ he said as the spirit came to a sudden realisation.

**"You tricked her into giving us the location without her knowing our intent And with a reasonable excuse, it won't raise any suspicions…hmm smart thinking boy"** he put the scroll away mas he lay awake looking at the ceiling.

_'We'll check it out tomorrow. We just need to sneak away when no ones looking...But how the hell am I just going to slip away when no ones looking? Ah man this sucks!'_ he thought to himself. Before he slipped away into sleep.

* * *

Early Next Morning / 0500 / JNPR Dorm Room

* * *

Jaune peeked quietly over to his sleeping companions, as he reached for his boots. Slipping them on ever so softly, only to look up as Nora snored loudly. He relaxed when he still saw her fast asleep.

Although he was curious of why she had a stuffed toy, shaped like a sloth in her arms. But that didn't matter, as he quietly strapped on his gear, and made it over to the door. He looked back quietly at his sleeping team, before shutting he door softly, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Jaune?"

"EKKK!" he shrieked softly, as he managed to contain his scream to a whimper. Jaune then spun around in shock, as he was face to face with a confused looking Ruby. She held a glass of water in her hand, a toothbrush in her mouth, while her eyes looked droopy.

"R-Ruby? W-What are you doing up so early?" she looked confused as she titled her head.

"I could ask you the same thing? Why you all dressed up? Ozpin gave us the day off because of the incident remember?" she said as Jaune remembered the headmaster allowing the teams to relax after the docks.

"Well yeah I remember but…I-I just got a call from the Police Station! Yeah! They said I left my wallet at the docks and that I should go to the station to pick it up! Yep, yep that's totally the reason!" he chuckled nervously as he hoped she would by his lie.

"Seriously? You left your wallet at the docks?" Ruby said with a slight hint that she didn't believe him.

"Well I kind of did during the fight and it must have dropped out then. Not to mention all of my moneys in it and I'd be pretty screwed without it" Jaune said as he started to walk past the girl.

"Ok, do you want me to tell your team while your gone?" Jaune stopped as he shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be back in an hour or two, depending on the shuttle. Later Ruby" he said as he walked away. What he didn't see was Ruby staring at him, with a look of concern on her face.

"What's happening to you Jaune?"

* * *

An hour Later / 0600 / Vale Warehouse District

* * *

"This is the address…I think? Seems pretty secluded for a club if you ask me?" Jaune said as he looked at the giant metal doors, before he checked the address again on his scroll. It seemed to be the right address. But the club seemed more hidden then anything. He wondered how they got any patrons at all?

**"Its more of a front, its just far enough from local law enforcement. And can be heavily defended if they were found out"** Inu pointed out, as he spotted several area's where the doors could be barded.

"Well we're not going to find any answers out here. Guess we might as well get inside" Jaune said as he pushed the big doors open. As soon as he was in however, a multitude of guns were pointed at his face. "Whoa!" Jaune said as he raised his hands in the air. The men around him looked a little trigger fingered as they glared at him.

**"Well…not the reception I was expecting?"** Inu calmly said as he observed the scene. His eyes glowing slightly as he prepared to assist Jaune at any moment.

_'You're telling me? I'm the one with the guns in my face?'_ Jaune said to Inu as his hand twitched towards his swords.

"Hey! Hey! Ease up you morons!" a voice yelled out, as the man from Roman's memory's walked before them.

"But Boss? You told us to be on the look out for a crazy blond?"

"I said a blond crazy chick, this is clearly not her you idiots!" he said as he pushed the guns out of Jaune's face. "Sorry about that, we've been on edge ever since we've had to renovate this place." Jaune stared in disbelief as he stared at the club.

_'How often does she come here?'_ he thought to himself as the guards dispersed.

"So what are you doing here so early kid? Bars closed if you're looking for a drink and the dance floors not open for another few hours"

"Ah well I was hoping to speak to you actually…in private" Jaune said as he motioned to the men in the club. Juniors eye's narrowed slightly as slowly signaled the men around him.

"Oh? And what is it that you need to talk to me about kid?" Jaune noticed this as Inu manifested a small dagger of light in Jaune's right hand behind his back.

"A job you're doing for a friend of mine, he told me to come get the info from you myself" Junior narrowed his eyes further, as he could tell Jaune was lying.

"Oh really…and who might this friend of yours be?" Jaune glared as he realised that his bluff wasn't working and was ready to fight. He spotted a chandelier above them, as a plan formed in his mind.

"Roman Torchwick."

As soon as he said those words, Junior jumped back as he pointed to the boy. "Shoot him!" he yelled as every one of his men, shot at the boy. But Jaune quickly threw the dagger of light at the chandelier above their heads, and snapped the rope holding it. The chandelier fell as it smashed the ground below. Most of the men got away, with only a few of them being knocked unconscious by the lights.

Jaune ducked behind a table, as some of them men shot at him from cover. He then manifested the bow in his hands, and aimed at the offenders. Time slowed down as he took aim and fired. Each arrow he shot only injured a man, as he mostly aimed for arms and feet. He even managed to shoot the guns out of their hands.

Seeing that shooting him wasn't going to work. Each man drew out their hatchets, as they charged at the boy. Jaune quickly drew his blade, as he parried and blocked each of their attacks. He then swung his blade left and right, as he managed to knock them out with the guard of his sword.

He ducked under a hatchet and smashed his armoured fist into a man's face, as he sidestepped another, as he smashed at the back of the man's head, easily knocking him out.

"Oi! You little shit!" Jaune spun around, just in time to dodge out of the way. Junior came sailing down with a large bat, as the ground before him exploded. Jaune rolled out of the way of the blast.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here! And ruining my bar! I just got it repaired!" he then shifted the bat, into a large rocket launcher as he fired multiple rockets at Jaune. Jaune quickly rolled out of the way, as each rocket missed him by an inch.

Drawing his bow, he quickly aimed at the offending rockets, and shot each and every one of them. The explosion created a smokescreen, long enough for Jaune to race towards the man and punched him in the face.

Hei Xiong went sailing through the air as he landed in front of two pairs of feet. He looked up as he came to see the bored looks of Melanie and Miltiades Malachite.

"Oh look sis, another blond ruining our club" Melanie, the girl in white said, as she looked at Jaune.

"Guess we need to teach him a lesson too, huh Sis?" the girl in red said as each brandished their weapons. Jaune gulped slightly as he drew the broken blade off his back. And held the blade in a reverse grip.

"Oh man, I hate fighting girls. It goes against everything Grandpa taught me," Jaune said as the girls came charging at him. Miltiades swiped at him, with the claws on her arms. While her sister attempted to swipe at him, with the blades on her legs. But thanks to Inu's guidance, he managed to dodged and parry each of their attacks.

He managed to lock his broken blade in Melanie's leg blade, and spin her away from the fight. With Miltiades he side stepped her blades, and locked her arms in his. Unfortunately that meant he was chest to chest with the girl in red. He blushed slightly, as did Miltiades who was not used to having a boy, this close to her.

"Sorry!" Jaune said before he threw her off him, just as Melanie cut his cheek.

"What the hell are you doing to my sister? You pervert!" she yelled in a surprising display of rage. "You're dead meat boy!" she yelled as she swung her legs left and right, Jaune barely dodging as he blocked her attacks.

**"Keep your distance Jaune!"** Inu yelled as he restrained himself from materializing and blocking the attacks.

Jaune was able to grab her leg and threw her across the room, before Miltiades attacked him again. As this was happening, Junior managed to get up as he transformed his bat, into a large rocket launcher. The red targeting symbol circled in on Jaune, as Junior grinned at this.

"Take this you damn psycho!" he fired as the rocket came sailing towards the three. Jaune's eyes widened at this, as he pushed the girls out of the way, and fired another arrow at the rocket. The rocket exploded in mid-air, as a thick blanket covered the club. At first Junior though he had won, until the smoke cleared and he was nowhere to be seen.

Miltiades and Melanie where safe behind an over turned table, though both were unconscious.

"What!?" Was all he got to say, before he felt a strange presence behind him. He turned around and was terrified as he stared into the glowing blue eyes of Jaune. He tried to swing his weapon at him, but proved futile, as Jaune batted it out of his hand and kicked him in the knee.

"ARGH!"

The man screamed before Jaune placed his hand on his face, the blue flames seeping into the man's head. From the man's point of view, Jaune's imaged shifted and changed into the ghostly visage of Inu.

**"Surrender your will!"** Inu yelled as the man could only stare in shock, as images flashed into Jaune's mind.

* * *

_Junior sat in front of his computer, as he typed and managed the business. Suddenly his scroll went off, he answered the call as he waited for the news._

_"What did you find?" he asked the voice at the other end of the call._

_"We found him boss, he owns a book store called Tuskon's Book Trade. Its in the center of town, near the 'From Dust till Dawn' Dust store"_

_Junior grinned as he leaned back into his chair. "Good work, guess not all of you are completely incompetent. Now send me the data and I'll get it to Roman in a week. Need to make sure that he pays us properly this time"_

_He then hung up as he leaned back into his seat. His scroll then beeped as the information of Tuskon appeared on his scroll. A quick glance at the information was all he needed, as he grinned._

_"Life is good," he said as the memory started to fade, and it all turned black._

* * *

Junior's eyes rolled into the back of his head, as Jaune let go and stared at his hand. **"Now we know where to go,"** he said as Jaune glared at the man.

"If one can trust a criminal?"

**"Trust has nothing to do with it, his thoughts cannot lie"** Jaune looked down at the unconscious man, as he looked around at the damage.

"What do we do about him? We can't just leave him like this? He could warn Roman" Inu pondered this as he looked at his left hand. Unaware of what was happening behind the two, the woman in white manifest behind Inu, as she whispered into his ear. Words that made the Faunus jump in shock as he turned around. Inu spun around in shock of the voice, only to find no one there.

"Inu? You ok?" Jaune asked as the spirit shook his head.

**"I'm fine, it was nothing…but I think I have an idea,"** he said as he motioned to the man. **"Place your hand on him again. And brand him with my Aura"** Jaune looked surprised at this as he looked to the man.

"What will that do?" Jaune asked as the spirit kneeled down to the man.

**"I think because I am dead, I can slightly influence the living. I won't have complete control over him, but just enough to think we are his allies…"** Jaune had wide eyes as he looked at the scar on his left hand, which glowed an eerie blue.

"You want to take over his mind? Can we even do that?"

**"We won't know until we find out? Besides if we have him as our thrall, he can supply us with information. Maybe even tell us who killed me in that forest."**

"But still, to rob someone of their free will…that's-that's just wrong!" Inu glared at Jaune as he pointed to the man.

**"He has done much worse in his life, he deserve neither pity nor mercy! Besides he will still have his free will, he'll just follow our orders through fear"** Jaune raised an eyebrow at this, as Inu explained.

**"Fear is a powerful tool in the hands of a warrior. With fear you can conquer kingdoms and turn allies against friends. It is the tool we shall use to bring vengeance upon those who would turn my kind upon the rest of the world…"** he was silent as he sighed.

**"I cannot explain why…but something about White Fang fills me with both rage…and sadness? Like I'm watching something once held dear to me, be perverted and twisted for someone else's gain. ****I will do anything within my power, to protect what I hold precious…wouldn't you do the same?"**

Jaune stopped as he thought about what he said. Images of his friends and family flashed through his mind, as he thought about the horrible things that could happen to them. And he knew Inu was right, he would do anything to save his friends, no matter the cost. He turned back to Inu as he nodded his head.

"I would do anything to keep them safe…even sell my soul to the devil"

Inu smiled softly as he heard this, **"That sense of devotion…must be what binds us together"** he then looked back as Junior began to moan. **"He's waking up, better hurry"** and then he vanished. Jaune breathed deeply as he flexed his left hand, the familiar sense of Inu's aura coursed through his left hand as he walked over and brought the man to his knees.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Junior mumbled slightly before Jaune brought his hand on his face and the aura flames spread across his face. The man didn't scream in pain, but the face he made, was close to what he felt. Juniors face went blank, as he just seemed to stare at Jaune. Jaune breathed slightly as he spoke to the man.

"You serve me now, understand?" the man nodded briefly as Jaune sighed at this. "From now on when you receive information, you will forward it to me first. Do you understand?" the man nodded again as Jaune then looked at the bar.

"If you need to tell me something personally, you will speak to me in private, or message me the information." The man nodded again as Jaune was starting to understand. "If you see me with Yang or anyone else, you will pretend that you don't know me. Understand?" he nodded once more as Jaune nodded at this.

"Continue to run your business as usual, but no selling drug to kids, got it?" Inu raised an eyebrow at this, Jaune looked at him and shrugged. "What? Got to set some moral standard." Jaune then let go as the man regained consciousness. He looked up to see Jaune, and smiled.

"Ah Jaune, you're here? What can I do for you?"

"What the heck?" two voices spoke as the two turned to see Melanie and Miltiades, who had both regained consciousness, to see the two talking. "What's going on Junior? Why are you being chummy with this kid?" Melanie asked as she found this strange.

"Oh I think I kind of forgot? But this guy here is a son of an old friend of mine. He must have forgotten to give the secret code, and these idiots here jumped the gun again." Junior said as he pointed to the men, limping away.

Miltiades had a curious look on her face as she crossed her arms. "Really? Because I don't remember ever meeting this guy?" she said as Junior only waved him off.

"Well I don't even bother to remember half the people I hire. Besides Jaune here is new to this line of work." He said as he patted the boy's shoulder.

Jaune sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he grinned to the girls. "Sorry about all that, first day on the job and all" he said as the girls glared at him. "Um sorry about the bar…and sorry if I hurt you?"

Both girls blushed slightly as Miltiades turned her head. "I-its fine, you didn't do as much damage as that big breasted blond. We can recover from this," she said as Melanie fidgeted slightly on her feet.

"Ok that's good, well I'll be in touch later ok Junior?" he asked as the man nodded to him.

"Sure, come back anytime Jaune, you're a friend here after all" he said as Jaune could see the blue hand mark upon his face. Jaune nodded as he walked out of the club, looking back one last time before he closed the doors behind him.

Jaune sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "I still don't like it" Jaune said as Inu manifest beside him. "Using him like that? Isn't it still wrong to control him like that?" he asked as Inu only glared slightly.

**"If we want to end this curse, then we need to use every advantage we get"** he looked at the club before settling back to Jaune. **"Steel yourself young Arc…we still have a long way to go"** he then vanished from sight as Jaune sighed at this.

"Great…and just like that, I've become an underground crime lord" He said as he walked away from the club. "What would my mum say, if she found out?" he muttered to himself as he walked back to the academy.

* * *

A little while later, Jaune had just returned to the Academy, before his scroll went off. He looked down as he saw a message from Ozpin.

-Mister Arc, would you please come to see me in my office as soon as he get this? There are things we need to discuss-. The message read as Jaune looked at the words curiously.

"Why do you think he needs to see us?" he asked Inu, as the spirit looked at the message.

**"I do not know? But we need to tread with caution, he maybe up to something. Stay on your toes"** the spirit advised as Jaune nodded at him.

Walking to the private elevator, Jaune pressed the button, as the elevator quickly shot up to the top floor. The elevator music playing softly in the background, as Jaune waited patiently on his feet. The elevator soon made a soft ding, as it reached the top floor. Walking in he noticed that Ozpin was standing away from the boy, as he looked out unto the campus.

"Um Headmaster?" Jaune said as an ominous aura choked at the air around him. "You said you need to speak to me about something?" he said as the man turned around and smiled at him.

"Why yes mister Arc, although more accurately…" Jaune's heart went faster as the man produced a small gun. "I wished to confirm something" He said as he then shot the gun. The bullet slammed into Jaune's chest as the boy stared in shock. He slowly looked down, as he saw a hole clear through the center his chest.

And then suddenly a blue flame erupted from the hole, as the wound closed up as quickly as it formed. The bullet from his chest dropped harmlessly to the floor, as the audible clink echoed in the tower. He looked up in time, just as the spirit of Inu manifested and charged at the man.

Only to pass though him entirely, the man sighed sadly as he walked towards the frightened boy.

"It is just as I feared…" Ozpin said as he stood before the shocked boy. He then looked into his eyes as Jaune saw the serious eyes of his Mentor.

"You have become the new Gravewalker…Mister Arc"

* * *

**And scene. Well here is Chapter IV of Shadow's of Remnant. Ozpin knows his secret, and Jaune has Junior under his command. What will this mean for the young Arc? What will Ozpin do with this information? How will Jaune handle this new development?**

**Find out next time in Chapter V: The Gravewalker's Rise!**

Please leave a review and tell me what you think?


	5. Chapter V: The New Gravewalker

RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death, cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark. A curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be saved. You have been chosen to save it from the ambition of a mad woman, and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

* * *

Chapter V: The New Gravewalker

* * *

Emerald green eyes awoke from their slumber, as a red-haired beauty greeted the morning light. She arose from her bed, as she stretched the creeks and strains out of her body. This was Pyrrha Nikos, four-time champion of the Mistral Combat Tournament and current student at the esteemed Beacon Academy, where she wished to become a full-fledged huntress.

Although in truth all she ever wanted was a simple life, with friends that liked her for whom she was and not scared to approach her, because of her popularity. Which is why she valued the friendships she made at her new school with her friend's and teammates. But there was none she cherished more than her partner Jaune Arc, the clumsy, yet Adorkable hunter in training. A young man who wanted nothing more than to become a hero in the eyes of Remnant.

Speaking of Jaune, her first instinct was to look to her left, as her usual morning tradition centred on gazing at her secret crush and partner. But as she gazed to the left to see his sleeping face, she was surprised to find the bed empty.

"Jaune?" she called out to the bathroom, hoping to hear a sound from the room. But none replied as she got up and opened the bathroom wide open. "Jaune?" she called out again as she looked into the empty shower head. She reached over and to grab her scroll as she attempted to call him. But all she got in return was an answering machine as she growled in slight annoyance. Now slightly afraid, she marched over to Ren as she shook the boy. "Ren! Ren! Wake up!" she said as she rocked the boy left and right.

"Ren! Ren! Wake up!" she said as she rocked the boy left and right.

"Ohm~ not now Nora, I'm trying to get some sleep" the boy mumbled into his pillow. Before Pyrrha grew slightly crossed as she picked up the boy by his collar.

"Ren it's Pyrrha," she said as the boy opened his eyes, to see the red haired girl holding him up by his collar. This brought some a small amount of shock, as he peeked over to the left to see Nora still asleep.

"Pyrrha? Why are you of all people waking me up?" he asked with a large amount of confusion in his voice.

"Its Jaune! He isn't in his bed this morning!" Ren raised his eyebrow at this as he looked to the boy's empty bed.

"Maybe he's in the shower?"

"That's the first place I checked and he wasn't in there!"

"Have you tried calling his scroll?"

"Yes! I did and he's not answering. I'm really worried Ren, what if he got into more trouble while we were asleep? Or-or what if Cardin decided to kidnap him and do horrible things to him!" In her mind, a small chibi like Jaune was bound and tied up, as Cardin with a top hat and evil moustache placed him on a train track.

Ren only sighed, as he was able to force his way out of the girls grip. "Pyrrha relax, I'm sure Jaune hasn't gone too far. He might just be in the cafeteria and decided to get some breakfast," he said with a shrug as Pyrrha pondered this.

"But wouldn't he, at least, tell us? He's hiding something from me, Ren. And I'm afraid that he might get hurt in the process." She said as Ren sighed and sat up in his bed.

"Look Pyrrha, I know how you feel. I'm worried about his strange behaviour too. But if we try to force it out of him, we may just end up making worse and he'll shut us out permanently. We have to let him tell us what's wrong. He deserves that much at least"

Pyrrha sighed as she realised that he was right. If she tried to pester him with more questions, he secluded himself and denies any allocation that anything is wrong with him. But at the same time, she felt that she couldn't just stand by and let history repeat itself. She had done that once, and he nearly died for it. In the end, it all came down to Jaune's his decision to tell the truth.

And she would have no choice but to wait for him.

"Maybe you're right…" she then got up as she quickly went into the bathroom and changed. "I'm going to go get some breakfast...Thanks, Ren, for understanding." she said as she closed the door behind her.

Ren stared at the door softly closed behind the concerned teammate as a serious look crossed his face. Even thought he had said those words, he too was worried about his leader.

His strange behaviour, his odd gestures, the isolation and look in his eyes of a dark and terrible secret gnawing at his soul. There was something else going on with Jaune, something that was slowly changing him from within. Turning him into something that was starting to scare him, something…

He shook his head at this as he lied back down into his mattress. _'I shouldn't think something like that. No matter whatever happens to him, I'm positive that Jaune will come back out of this as the same Jaune Arc that we all care about…'_

He closed his eyes as he drifted off back to sleep. "MORNING RENNY!" his eyes immediately snapped open as the every bubbly and hyperactive Nora Valkyrie stood over his bed. A wide grin on her face as she looked down at the boys disgruntled face.

_'Damn it!'_ he thought before he was dragged out of bed by the orange haired huntress.

Meanwhile, as Pyrrha was walking towards the cafeteria, her mind was still on the matter of Jaune Arc and the strange behaviour had begun to display. Even thought she had agreed with Ren on the matter, it did not stop her worrying about the boy.

His unusual behaviour defiantly caused her a great deal of concern. The way he especially showed unbridled rage at Weiss Schnee. And like Ren, even she knew that Jaune had a crush on Weiss, even if she loathed admitting it. But the rage and the animosity towards the young heiress scared even her. She honestly though Jaune might have done something worse, had she not broke him from his trance.

What was Jaune hiding that was causing him to act this way? Why is he keeping it from them and her especially? And most importantly…why doesn't he trust her enough to tell her?

"Pyrrha?" she spun around as she soon came face to face with the only other person with a crush on her partner.

Ruby Rose, the child prodigy and leader of team RWBY.

She was the first person that Jaune had met when they all arrived at Beacon Academy. After she had accidentally caused herself and Weiss to blow up in front of the school, and she wasn't joking about that, she had slumped into depression. It was then that she met Jaune, who was there to lend a helping hand.

For a brief time Pyrrha had the sneaking suspicion that the girl had a crush on the boy. At first she thought it wasn't a real thing, after the first few months at Beacon. But then Jaune went missing in the Forever Falls, and she had begun to notice the obvious signs of a girl in love.

The constant need to be around the boy, the amount of concern she felt for him and the glare the two would often share between each other when Jaune was sitting between them. She instantly knew that the small girl had a crush on her partner, her first friend since Beacon. But even though Pyrrha had a rival for her crushes heart, she still respected her for caring about the boy as much as she did.

"Oh Ruby good morning, how are you?" she asked the small huntress.

"I'm fine I was just on my way to get something to eat while the rest are getting ready. I got to tell you, it is a good thing to have speed like semblance like mine. Getting to the bathroom is a battle in the morning" Pyrrha chuckled at this as the pair walked to the cafeteria.

"I can understand that it's especially not easy when you live with two boys" Ruby chuckled at this.

"I guess huh? Have you ever...you know...walked in on them?" Ruby asked curiously and meekly at the thought of living in the same room as two boys.

"No thank goodness, Ren had set up a chart to allocate who goes in and when…although that rule doesn't apply to Nora, as she just goes in whenever Ren does?" The two looked at each other for a brief moment, as their face flushed a light pink. An image of a semi-naked Jaune appeared in their minds, as they chuckled nervously. Silence soon crept over them as they found little else to talk about. As they made their way down the hall, Ruby turned to Pyrrha with a look of confliction on her face. As if she wanted to ask her something but was afraid to say it.

"Um Pyrrha?" she finally asked as the feminine gladiator turned to face the scythe wielder.

"Yes Ruby?"

"How is Jaune? He seems to be acting strange lately. Is everything alright with you guys?" she asked as Pyrrha sighed and massaged her forehead.

"Honestly Ruby I have no idea, Jaune has been acting strange lately I won't deny that. But he is just refusing to let me in, and its driving me up the wall..." she and Ruby stopped as Pyrrha leaned against the large windows.

"I'm scared Ruby...I'm scared that Jaune is getting himself into something that will get him killed. And I have no idea what to do! He is my partner and my friend, but how am I supposed to help him? If he won't even be honest with me!" Ruby looked at the distraught girl as she thought about her situation.

"Honestly Pyrrha...I have no idea what to say that will help" she said as Pyrrha looked down at this. "But I think it would be best to just let Jaune tell us what's wrong when he is ready...that's all we can do right now?" Ruby said as Pyrrha sighed.

"That's exactly what Ren said..." she said as she looked back to the small huntress. "Thanks, Ruby...that doesn't stop my worry, but it puts me at ease for a little, thank you," she said as the small huntress only smiled.

"No problem Pyrrha, that's what friends a for right?" Ruby said with a smile as they continued to walk towards the cafeteria, "Besides" Ruby said as she walked with the amazons.

"I'm sure where ever he is, Jaune is completely and one hundred percent, A-O-K"

* * *

Ozpin's Office at the top of the tower

* * *

Jaune stared in shock as the man stood right before the boy, a smoking gun in his hand and a bullet at his feet that was coated in the young man's blood, his mind trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy and the one in charge of making sure of all of the students were safe, had just randomly shot him point blank in the chest. And what was worse, he knew what Jaune was, he knew Jaune's latest and darkest secret.

That he died, was brought back to life by a vengeful spirit and proved it by shooting him in the chest just above his chest plate creating a small semicircle were the bullet chipped off a piece of armour. He didn't know what to do; he didn't know what to say other than...

"You shot me!" a very surprised and angry Jaune said as he glared at the man's un-amused face.

"Not the reaction I was expecting," Ozpin said as he sipped from his coffee. Honestly, he was expecting the boy to be a panicking mess right now, but clearly he was well aware of his unique situation.

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm a little ticked off right now! But you kind of just shot me in the chest!" Jaune said as he pointed to his armour piece, that now sported a hole at the top of it.

"How am I going to explain this to Pyrrha? She's already suspicious of me, because of that outburst yesterday..." he looked back up as he pointed a finger at the man. "Hey, don't sidetrack me! why the heck did you shoot me anyway?! What kind of teacher would just up and shoots one of his students! What are you crazy?!" Jaune said as the man calmly sipped his coffee.

"I was confident that my hunch was correct, besides your fine now aren't you?" the man said as Jaune glared at him.

"Well, what would have happened if your hunch was wrong?" Ozpin didn't say anything as he merely just looked at the boy before he turned around and stared out the window. "Don't turn your back on me!" he yelled as a large vein pulsed on his forehead as he Jaune glared at his headmaster, annoyed at the fact that the man hadn't even considered what would happen if his hunch was wrong.

Inu watched from the side as he glared at the man, his senses telling him that there was something more to the man than what he was presenting to them. He was knowledgeable and dangerous.

"**Jaune I think we need to listen to him..."** Jaune looked over to the ghost as he gestured to the man, **"He called us something...'Gravewalker'...he may know what's happening to us,"** Jaune turned back to the man as he sighed.

"What did you mean, when you called me the new 'Gravewalker'...do you know what's happening to me?" Ozpin glanced back as he walked over to a worn old chest as he presented an old and dust coated book, he then walked back to the desk as the book thumped loudly on the table and kicked up a small amount of dust.

"What I have mister Arc is a hunch..." he turned the page as he pointed to an image in the book, "And my hunches aren't usually wrong"

Jaune looked at the opened book, as he slowly walked over to the desk and peered at the open pages. His eyes widened slightly as he looked upon the image of a man, with a phantom image of another man behind him. The other man was dressed in older garments and was surrounded by a dark blue aura, as Jaune looked down at his own dark blue aura that swirled around his hand.

"Have you heard the tale...of the man with two souls?" Ozpin asked as Jaune looked back up to him. "The tale of a man who possessed two souls inside his body, each fighting for control over his body..." the man slowly walked around the desk as he stood next to the boy.

"But I believe that the tale was...'misinterpreted'...I think the man didn't possess two souls, that fought for control over his body" he looked at the boy as he leaned in.

"I believe he possessed two souls to fight something...else" Ozpin walked over to the large window as Jaune looked back confused.

"Else? What was he fighting?" Ozpin looked out the window as he gestured to the book.

"...Turn the page..."

Jaune did as he was told as he turned the page and widened his eyes at the image. The image of a large man dressed in black and white armour with glowing red eyes and a hoard of Grimm behind him.

"It was called 'The Grimm King' ...a monstrous Grimm of Legend, that was said to possess the intelligence of man but the ferocity and cruelty of the Grimm." Ozpin turned around as he made his way to his desk.

"It was written that his beast once laid siege to many human Kingdoms, slain countless lives and nearly brought an end to the world as we know it. It was so powerful that the very moon still bares its scar," the man said as Jaune's eyes widened as he looked out of the window, where the moon would be.

"But that is just a fairytale after all," he said as Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. Although Ozpin had a far away look as he gripped his cane tightly in his hand.

"In the 'original tale' however it was said that the man with two souls, with the help of four powerful maidens, managed to stop this dreaded beast and vanquished his soul to oblivion." The man sat down as he crossed his fingers together.

"But I think there is more to this tale than what is written on the pages. I think that there was a reason this man has two souls like you mister Arc" the man said as he gestured to Jaune. "It is written that for one to become a Gravewalker, one must..." Jaune hung his head, as he knew what the man was going to say.

"Die..."

Ozpin closed his eyes as he breathed in a calm breath, to sooth his soul. "Was it painful?" the man asked, as Jaune's eyes remained downcast.

"...Yes"

"I'm very sorry" Jaune shook his head at this as he sat down on one of the chairs.

"Don't be...it was my own hubris that got me killed, now I have to deal with it," he said as the man looked at the boy. Ozpin sighed as he looked at the boy. "What did happen to the first Gravewalker?" Jaune asked as the man shrugged his shoulders.

"No one knows what exactly happened to him, some say he died fighting the Grimm King, others say he continues to walk this earth today seeking his final end. But I would assume he is dead and has passed on long ago" he said as Jaune found some form of comfort in those words. "Do you know the name of the spirit that is attached to you?" Jaune nodded as he looked at the spirit of Inu for a brief moment as the spirit nodded as well.

"He calls himself Inu, but I don't think that's his real name because he can't seem to remember his real one. He says we are bound together by some 'curse' that keeps me from dying and that the only way to free us of this is to find the one who killed him in the Forever Falls Forest and seek his revenge" Ozpin stroked his chin as he walked around the boy.

"What powers does he offer?" Inu nodded again as Jaune sighed and told the man of his 'known' abilities.

"So far I can move faster, strike harder and fall from great heights without suffering injury. He grants me a bow of 'light' I think? That somehow slows down time and grants me great accuracy. He...also seems to have the ability to 'dominate' another person's will, when he forces his aura into their minds" Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this as he walked around.

"That is an Interesting ability, if perhaps a bit too dark...what else?"

"I still don't know how it works, but he can allow me to see into people's minds, and view their last memories or the last thing they were thinking of" Ozpin stopped as he turned to look at the boy.

"I don't know what it means but-" He stopped as Ozpin stood right in front of him.

"Can he see into a comatose mind?!" Jaune was slightly stunned as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What?"

"Can he see into a dormant mind!?" the man said almost desperately as Jaune managed to push him away, as his eyes flashed blue for a brief moment.

"I-I doesn't know? I-I don't think we've ever tried that yet but...why do you want to know?" Jaune asked as the man sighed and faced the boy, his hands behind his back as he looked at him.

"I know this is a troubling situation that you are in, but I am in need of your...skills" Jaune looked at the man as he began to circle the boy. "You are not aware of this Mister Arc, but we are at war with an enemy, that wishes to bring down the four kingdoms" Jaune looked shocked as the man continued. "So far she has already infiltrated our defences and has 'stolen' something of great importance."

"She? Who is she? And what has she stolen?" Ozpin gestured to the elevator as Jaune slowly followed after him. Jaune looked to Inu as the spirit only gestured to follow him as he disappeared back into Jaune.

The pair soon got into the elevator as the man pressed a series of buttons on the panel before the elevator began to descend down the shaft. The elevator soon came to a stop as the doors opened up to reveal a large corridor, surrounded in darkness and mystery. Jaune looked around cautiously as Jaune followed closely behind him, the man's cane tapping ominously amongst the tile floor of the large corridor.

"Where are we?" Jaune asked as he looked around at the large pillars of that held up the ceiling.

"We are In 'The Vault' a secret location hidden directly under Beacon Academy, few know of its location and even fewer know of what we keep here, some are artefacts of long ago...but we hold something much more precious here" Ozpin spoke as his voice echoed in the dark hall.

"Before I show you this secret Mister Arc, I must ask you something...do you believe in fairy tales?" he asked as Jaune stopped as he looked at the man.

"What?" He asked as the man stopped and turned to face him.

"I asked do you believe in fairy tales?" the man asked again as he continued to walk down the hall, Jaune quickly catching up to him as they continued to walk the hall.

"Um...not really, but with everything that's happened to me...I think I'm a bit more opened about it" Jaune said as the man nodded.

"A good mindset to have Mister Arc, my favourite fairy tale is the Four Seasons. A tale about four maidens, each representing one of the four seasons as they managed to urge an old hermit from his home and were granted magical powers in return for kindness" the large halls gave Jaune a foreboding feeling as he could feel Inu stir within him.

"They then left to spread their gifts amongst all of Remnant..." Ozpin cast his eyes back, even as they continued to walk the hall. "But what if I told you, that the fairy tale was real?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at the end of the corridor as his eyes were cast upon a large metal casket. They stopped as Ozpin turned to the boy and gestured to the casket.

Moving cautiously Jaune moved to the large metal object, as he peered into the glass and widen his eyes in shock, as the face of a scarred woman was presented to him.

He instantly backed away as he pointed at the casket "Who is that?" Jaune said as Ozpin walked near the metal container.

"This Jaune Arc is Amber, the current Fall Maiden and as you can see, she has been badly injured," he said as he gestured to the burn on her face.

"How is she a maiden?"

"As far as we know, when a Maiden dies, their power is inherited by the last person that is in their thoughts. But it cannot be given to a man or if the host is too old. It has to be a young woman as it was in the fairytale..." he looked to the woman as he touched the glass. Inu appeared beside the casket as he gazed at the sleeping maiden, his eyes wandering over her form as he turned back to Jaune.

**"She is alive, but barely...it almost seems she is missing something," **he said as Jaune turned back to the headmaster.

"Why is she hidden down here? If she is real, then shouldn't the whole world know about this?" Ozpin shook his head as he faced his student.

"There was once a time when the Maidens were known to everyone and their powers brought peace to the world...but then there were those who desired their power, and sought to claim it for themselves." He said as Jaune listened intensely to the man.

"The many conflicts in our history, that did not involve the Grimm, were actually against those who tried to take their power. One such incident was...The Great War, the battle that made your ancestor a legend" Jaune's eyes widened slightly as he looked to the blade on his back.

"When your ancestor learned of the truth, he decided that the maidens should remain hidden, and their legend turned into nothing but a fairytale, in order to protect them and keep the peace." Ozpin sighed as he looked to the casket. "But recently someone attacked a Maiden and managed to steal a portion of her power" Jaune looked confused as he looked at Amber.

"How is that possible?"

"As I said from, what we know so far is that the power can be transferred to the last persons that are in their minds before their death...that can also mean their attacker as well" Jaune glanced at Inu as they heard this.

"Which is why I have brought you down here..." he said as he moved to stand next to the casket. "If you do possess the ability to peer into another's mind, I'm hoping that you will be able to see into her mind and identify her attacker," he said as he moved to the console.

"Wait you want me to go into her mind?" Ozpin nodded as he began to press some buttons.

"Yes Mister Arc, if you can identify her attacker, it will give us a serious edge in this war...and hopefully I will not have to resort to using your partner..." he whispered the last part as Jaune caught a brief mention of it.

"What?"

"Nothing Mister Arc, don't mind me," he said as he continued to operate the console. While that was happening, Inu appeared beside Jaune as he looked at the comatose girl.

"**The man is not wrong about this girl, I can sense a great power within her. But we shouldn't be caught up in this, it is not our fight, our fight is out there looking for whoever killed me" **Inu said as he pointed to the exit. "**The sooner we find her, the sooner we can end this 'curse' on us and be free to pass on." **Jaune looked doubtful as his eyes were cast towards the sleeping maiden.

'_But we can't just ignore this, Ozpin was able to tell us what we are and how we came to be. And face it we are almost out of leads, other then that Tuskon person Roman wants dead.'_ Jaune said as he communicated to Inu through his mind. '_Besides I think it would be best if we have Ozpin on our side and not end up in a lab to be experimented on'_ Inu growled slightly, but then nodded reluctantly as he saw the logic in the boys statement.

"**Fine, let's make this quick and get back to what we were doing,"** Inu said as he disappeared inside of Jaune as he stood before the casket.

"I must warn mister Arc, while her body has sustained damage...there is no telling the condition of her mind" Ozpin warned as Jaune nodded and raised his hand as it glowed with blue flames.

He hesitated as he looked at his hand as Inu manifested beside him _'Will it hurt her?'_ he asked as Inu shook his head.

"**Only if her mind attempts to fight back, that is the only reason those we have done this to before feel pain...though I cannot be sure of her mind in this state, be cautious none the less"** he faded back into Jaune as he sighed and nodded to Ozpin.

The man activated the console as the casket released a large hiss, as the metal casket opened and exposed the young maiden resting inside. Cautiously he placed his hand upon her face, as Inu's image overlapped his own as their eyes glowed simultaneously.

"**Surrender your will..."** Inu and Jaune whispered as their Aura seeped into her mind.

Suddenly they were met with violently flashes of red and fire, as all of their senses were flooded with pain and agony. Fire spreading around them, as they looked to see orange like eyes glaring back at them as a dark haired woman, cloaked in shadows smirk confidently before tendrils of black covered their faces.

"ARGH!" Jaune screamed as he instantly let go and clutched his head in agony. Inu's corporeal form fluctuated as he too was clutching his head in agony.

"JAUNE!" Ozpin said as he instantly closed the casket and rushed to the boy, as he screamed on the ground. "Jaune! Jaune! Speak to me! Are you all right!" the man yelled as he held the boy down, as he continued to scream in pain. Finally, he stopped as he panted and gasped. His body heaving in great amounts of air as his body shook in fear.

"Jaune are you ok? What happened in there?" the headmaster asked Jaune only stared at the ground in shock. Ozpin feared the worst as he went to place a hand on his shoulder before the boy spoke.

"It was her...she did this..." Ozpin was confused as he looked at the boy's stunned and terrified face.

"She? Who is she Jaune?" the man asked as Jaune slowly looked up to the man.

"It was her, the same one who attacked Amber and killed Inu...she's connected to all this...I'm sorry but I couldn't see her face properly. But I remembered those eyes of hers...eyes like fire..." Inu manifested beside Jaune as he kneeled down to the boy as well.

"**Then this means my death was no spur of the moment killing but intentional...but for what purpose, I cannot see..." **He looked up as he gestured to Amber, sleeping once again in the casket.

"So the same woman who attacked Amber, is also responsible for killing your friend Inu?" Ozpin said as Jaune nodded, as he stood back up.

"Yes but like I said, I couldn't get a clear view of her. But I recognised the feeling, it was the same when I touched that glass dagger in the forest"

"Dagger?" Ozpin asked as Jaune nodded and he produced the glass dagger from his back pouch. The man took it in his hand as he inspected the black glass weapon.

"When I was in town the other day I took it to over a hundred weapons smiths in the city, and none of them have seen anything like this. Nor could any of them claim to have made it" Jaune said as Ozpin nodded his head.

"I wouldn't be surprised, it looks as of this weapon was forged from dust and infused with her aura, this weapon could only be made by the assailant," he said as he handed the dagger back to Jaune as he pocketed the glass weapon.

"I didn't know you could do that with dust?" Ozpin chuckled slightly as he looked to the boy.

"You still have a lot to learn young man...but at least, this gives us a clue to her fighting style and her use of dust. Combine that with the fraction of power she has stolen from Amber...and she will be a powerful foe to face" he said as turned back to the boy.

"But back to the matter at hand, if this assailant is indeed the same one that killed your friend and crippled Amber. Then it would seem you and your spirit friend have a common goal..." he stood his back to the boy as Inu appeared beside him.

"**He is right, if she had me killed for a reason, then I want to know why? It's the only way we can be free"** Jaune turned back as Ozpin continued.

"Mister Arc what I am about to ask of you, goes against everything I stand for as both a Headmaster and a Teacher. But I believe that drastic times call for drastic measures if we are to stop this war before it even begins" Jaune looked at the man as he continued.

"You will need to do...questionable things, in order to bring her to justice, things that will make you question your morals. But it is for the safety of the four Kingdoms that ask this of you" he said as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know this is not what you originally came to Beacon for Mister Arc...but if you do this, your friends may not have to face what is about to come. They will not have to face the horrors that lurk at our door steps...will do that for me mister Arc?"

Jaune remained silent as he looked at the man as he asked him to do this task. He glanced back at the pod, as he gazed at her sleeping face, as a brief image of his friends passed him by and he could not stand the thought of something happening to them. Was he really willing to sacrifice his morals? His soul? Just for the sake of revenge? But his thoughts kept wandering back to his friends as his mind instantly became clear.

He knew what he had to do...

"I'll do it...for them," Jaune said as his eyes flashed blue for a brief moment. The man sighed as he nodded his head.

"Thank you...Jaune" the man said as stood back up "Now do you have any other clues we can follow?" he asked as Jaune nodded.

"Yeah the last time I ran into Roman, I entered his mind and I saw his most recent memory. He had someone named Hei Xiong, also known as Junior, to locate a person called 'Tuskon', apparently Roman or whoever's ordering him wants him dead" Ozpin nodded as he listened to the boy.

"Why does Roman Torchwick want this Tuskon person dead?"

"I don't know, that was why I was in town this morning, I was following the lead when I was um...forced to fight Juniors goons" Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this as he looked at the boy.

"Yeah...but anyway I was able to learn that I could dominate people and make them my thralls in a sense, so now I have an inside source to the criminal underworld and any information he receives, he'll hand off to me first..." Jaune said as Ozpin nodded as well.

"I've also got the location for Tuskon, he owns a bookstore near the 'from Dusk till Dawn' dust store. I'm planning on checking it out soon because I'm not sure when Roman plans on making a visit to him," he said as Ozpin nodded at this.

"This good idea Mister Arc, it may lead us one step closer to finding out who is behind all of this, and why she is targeting the Fall Maiden...you best go now Mister Arc" he ordered as Jaune nodded and turned to leave. But he stopped as the man called out from afar.

"Are you ever going to tell your friends or are you going to leave them in the dark forever?" Ozpin asked as Jaune stopped and turned back to face the headmaster, before solemnly shaking his head.

"...No, and I never want them to find out about this, I don't know how they would react to something like this" his hand shifted between his and Inu's ethereal hand as he gripped his fist.

"I think they would only blame themselves for my condition...and I can't have that in my conscious," he said solemnly as Ozpin shook his head.

"I'm sure they would understand Jaune...they are your friends after all" but Jaune only shook his head as he began to walk away. The man sighed as he looked at the boy's retreating back as he then gazed at the casket with Ambers sleeping face.

His hand brushed delicately over the glass as he sighed with regret. "We will stop this Amber...I promise you...we will not fail" the man said as he stood alone in the dark corridor of the Academy.

* * *

Meanwhile far away from them in one of White Fangs Strongholds, a woman with fire like eyes and ashen hair smirked confidently as she stroked the glass orb in her hands, the orb pulsating with darkness as she held the surface almost possessively.

"Everything is going according to plan, soon I will have the rest of Autumn's power and the Four Kingdoms will pay for what they had done to you..." she smiled softly as she looked into the orb.

Dark voices whispered all around, speaking in an ancient tongue of unknown origin, but she could understand as she nodded and in response

"Yes I know...but they do not have the strength to defeat us, they no longer have the one who defeated you long ago. They are divided and petty, and will easily fall upon the system they have created" She held the orb in her hands as she placed it on a pedestal with a purple cushion.

"I can assure you...they will fall to your might and the world of Remnant will witness your return...my master" she then turned away as she left the room, strung up with dark red cloths and small burning candles. She stopped at the doorway and slowly closed the door as she whispered into the dark...

"All hail...The Grimm King..."

The door closed shut as the orb was surrounded by darkness. Until a blood red eye with a slit-like pupil opened in the orb and a dark laughter echoed within the darkness as a sense of foreboding and horror lingered for the future.

The Grimm King was returning

* * *

**And here is chapter Six, that took longer than expected and I apologise for the long wait. But recently I got work and my schedule has been busy. But I will be continuing on my other stories as well. I'm not sure how much I can go before Volume three is finished.**

**Also, I'm well aware that people keep telling me this should be a crossover, I would like to point out it is not a crossover, as I'm just borrowing the elements of Shadows of Mordor and incorporating them into the RWBY universe while trying to tie them into the lore of the world.**

**Until then I will continue this story so stay tuned for the next chapter, and I will continue chapter Six of Rising of an Arc, hopefully in the near future.**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Masseffect-TxS out!**


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